A Beacon in the Darkness
by danners3
Summary: An emergency beacon is picked up from an outlying planet in their galaxy, a planet that for all intents and purposes appears to be devoid of human life. Sheppard and his team set out to investigate the beacon and find a little more than they bargained for... indigenous life on that planet is definitely not friendly, and one lone survivor.
1. Chapter 1 Just Another Mission

CHAPTER 1 – JUST ANOTHER MISSION

"Will you lie back down Colonel Sheppard. Now!" The scottish lilt of Doctor Carson Beckett broke through John Sheppard's clouded mind. He felt as thought he was dragging his body backwards through thick, viscous mud – pulling him backwards into the mire of incoherent thought and intense pain.

"Gotta find her Carson... gotta find her!" He mumbled, still thrashing a little on the bed and barely felt the sting of a needle as Carson grew impatient with his agitation, worried that he would hurt himself and wanting to allow him the comfort of unconsciousness so that his mind could shutter and allow his body to heal.

"Find her later, Colonel. For now lad? You need to rest and recover. Take care of your own wounds before we worry about some phantom that has wound it's fingers into your mind. She's not real Colonel... there was no one else there."

Carson looked down at the Colonel with obvious concern. Wounds notwithstanding, the man had been through hell and back. A mission that had gone horribly wrong. A planet more hostile than any his team had encountered to date had left him alone in an abandoned city, his team believing that he had been killed by one of the indigenous wildlife found on the planet. They had seen him dragged off in it's vicious paws and following the bloody trail it had left, they had not found any sign of John's body but had feared the worse.

As John swam deeper into the dark warmth of his consciousness, courtesy of the powerful drug that Carson had injected him with, he recalled fragments of their trip to that inhospitable planet. The energy signature that had attracted them to the planet in the first place, picked up by their deep space sensors that were constantly monitored for activity by the wraith. An energy signature that for all intents and purposes had appeared to come from an emergency beacon of some sort.

John had immediately scrambed his team together, along with additional marines. P9T671 – a planet far out into their galaxy, one that they had not had any reason to visit until now. Rodney had immediately accessed it in the ancient data base and there was little information available. No ancient protection in place, no known trading alliance, basic knowledge only of a relatively advanced settlement that appeared for all intents and purposes – to thrive at a less than expected rate, given it's level of civilisation. End of story. No further chapters to add therefore it was assumed that the ancients had not seen the need to visit this planet further.

Until now.

"A distress call of some sort? Why have we had no communication either directly, or indirectly – until now? Seems if they were active in the galaxy to any extent, we would have had some sort of contact either from them – or via another means?"

Rodney had called the specifications of the planet up and pointed thoughtfully to the structured buildings, grouped in such a way as to assume that definite modernisation appeared to be in place.

"It would certainly be worth a visit, even if we hadn't received the distress call. Look at the way these buildings have been grouped. It suggests a specific plan, non traditional – but set out as though to either face a certain direction for a certain reason..."

"Or to repell something..." It was Teyla who spoke now. She was the most open to non scientific reasoning in their team. Her people, the Athosians, were especially spiritual and more often than not, would look for meaning beyond the physical world.

"Look Colonel – see how the tallest structure is facing this mountain range off to the right here, with the second tallest building at it's back, facing in the opposite direction? That would suggest a superstitious element, to use an expression that Dr McKay would understand. This is common amongst people in this galaxy. I think you have an expression for it amongst your earth terms?"

"Feng shui..." murmured Rodney. "The classical Chinese system that works around a series of concepts that provide a framework to understand and make sense of the universe and all that is within it. Chi or Universal Energy flows around the universe and emanates from living things. The presence of Chi is usually a sign of health, and the Chinese have developed numerous skills to manipulate Chi on a personal level. In Feng Shui it is the realisation that the Chi of an individual is slight and impressionable by the Chi resident within the environment and they look to balance it, promote vibrant personal Chi and safeguard it."

"Rodney...?" John looked at him in fascination. "Did I just hear you more or less promote something that has no scientific foundation?"

"Actually, Colonel Sheppard – Feng Shui is based on a system of precise mathmatical formulas. Take for example - Yin & Yang. Known to the Western mind as the concept of Duality. Where there is light, there must be dark in order for us to see that there is light at all! Without two ends of a spectrum, the human mind cannot discern what a thing is. The Chinese divide everything in the universe into Yin and Yang. Yin is the female particle, Yang the male. If it is done by a skilled pracititioner, it is done scientifically and mathmatically."

"Ok Rodney... now you're scaring me... so – these buildings? Feng shui?"

"I'm not an expert Sheppard, but I did dabble in it at one time – found the whole thing fascinating actually. And these building here – definite overtones of Feng Shui."

"Ok, so what does that give us... a more or less civilised culture who have built their city with something akin to Feng Shui in mind when they have designed it. Either that makes them extremely intelligent, or extremely superstitious. And superstition comes about because something has scared them at one time – to the point where they seek protection using a specific layout of their city. Does that about cover the less finer points?"

"A little less eloquent than I would have put it Sheppard, but more or less – correct. So does that mean we get to go and play a little?"

"It seems Rodney, that indeed we do... gear up and through the gate in thirty minutes people. That is, if the MALP gives us a clear picture on the first run."

The MALP did indeed give them a clear picture, but did show overgrown trees and shrubs around the gate as though that area had not been used by humans travelling through the portal for a long time. There was no discernible path as the camera mounted on the MALP panning the immediate area and relaying the picture back to them – showed. The air was viable, in fact a little high in oxygen and they would have to limit their time on this planet to avoid oxygen toxicity. The readings showed that oxygen levels were at 28%, seven percent higher than oxygen levels found on earth.

"Are we still picking up the distress beacon Rodney?" John fiddled with his P90 that was clipped to his tactical vest, while they waited for the MALP to give them the all clear to step through the gate.

"Still coming in strong Colonel. It was activiated approximately two hours ago, and of course it could have been done automatically, set off by a perfectly naturally occurring event on that planet. Curious though, Colonel... the MALP is reading no life signs in the immediate area. Wildlife or human."

Ronon gave his large energy weapon an experimental twirl, impatience showing in the set of his body. He did not like waiting. His demeanor required action, and lot's of it and he handled the large energy weapon he held with startling efficiency. The large Satedan provided more than adequate back up for the team and they had long since trusted him implicitly watching their backs.

His voice was low and he eyed Rodney now with a small measure of distrust. As he always did. "So McKay – the city. Perhaps it is a long way from the gate? That would explain why you are not picking up immediate life signs?"

"According to the data base, the city is only a half hour walk from the gate, therefore the MALP should be reading signs at this distance. Possibly the additional oxygen levels in the air are disturbing the accuracy of the MALP readings."

Sheppard clapped his hands together loudly, impatient himself to be on their way. "Ok folks – let's do this. Sam?" He looked up to the control room to see Samantha Carter looking down at them with a smile of her face. Base commander and a US Airforce Colonel – she brought a whole lot of experience to the table and more than once she had stepped in to help get them out of the crap on a mission. John kind of liked knowing she was keeping the home fires burning for them. It gave him a good sense of family, and as he fingered his P90 and glanced around at this team, he smiled. Yep, one big happy family.

And this was just another mission...


	2. Chapter 2 Hold That Thought

CHAPTER 2 – HOLD THAT THOUGHT

_No one's been through here in a long time_ was John's first thought as they stepped through the gate. The additional concentration of oxygen in the air affected their breathing only slightly, and Carson had provided them with portable breathing masks that allowed for additional CO2 to combat the extra oxygen, should it be needed.

The air felt stale, for want of a better word – as though no one had breathed it for a long time. The plant life around the stargate was seriously overgrown and the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty came to John's mind and he had to push down a laugh, fancying himself as the prince – complete with sword as he battled through the overgrown briar to get to the princess who slept in the castle beyond.

_That came out of left field..._ John thought to himself. _Fairy tales? Princesses? Swords? Perhaps we are here to slay the proverbial dragon, complete with fire breathing apparatus and all. So, is that all little boys fantasties?_

"Just what the hell is so funny, Sheppard? You've got that look on your face – says that you're thinking somewhat inappropriate thoughts." Rodney had already begun grumping. His asthma, real or imagined – John was never sure of that one, would be triggered still further by the different air consistency and the overgrown vegetation would likely be making him break out in some other affliction that he constantly seemed to have problem with. All resulting in making one grumpy and extremely irritable scientist.

"Why do you bother coming on these missions Rodney? You never seem to enjoy them, take the fun out of everything..." John threw him a disgruntled look, not willing to have his own fun spoilt. If he was here to slay the proverbial dragon, and find the damsel in distress, well – damn. He wanted to enjoy it without Rodney breathing his usual brand of sarcastic wit over their group.

"The discovery, John – why else? Certainly not your less than scintillating company."

"Ouch! If I actually cared what you thought, I'd be crushed!" John pushed past Rodney, deliberately bumping him hard enough to tip him slightly off balance and moved to take the lead away from the stargate. Taking up the rear, Ronon huffed out a laugh at the bickering between Rodney and Sheppard. Friends on one level, yes. As colleagues – well, they did not always see eye to eye. But then, most people in Atlantis did not share many of Rodney's points of view – a fact that neither bothered him, nor made him lose any sleep over.

"Ok, so we have a half hour walk – give or take. Rodney? That life sign detector... picking up anything at all yet?"

Back to business, Rodney held it out in front of him, having taken the spot behind Sheppard to begin the business of pushing through the overgrown undergrowth to head in the direction of the city.

"Nothing Sheppard, but the beacon is definitely coming from the direction of the city – if it has been activated automatically, by some event that has occurred naturally in the city, then the least we can do is shut it off, so that no one else is sent out here on a useless mission."

"Copy that Rodney. And if we're really lucky, we may find that the city holds an elusive ZMP..."

Teyla had not said anything and John paused briefly to throw a glance back at her over his shoulder.

"Teyla? You're quieter than usual. Picking up anything? Wraith activity?"

"I would have told you immediately had I sensed wraith activity, John. You know that. But I am picking up... something. There is a presence here. I know that your machine does not show life signs Rodney, but I feel that there is something here. Perhaps it has a different energy signature than the ones your machine is programmed to pick up."

"Are we talking good readings, or bad readings Teyla? Because I know from experience, from your point of view? These can be very different things..." John had moved off again and hearing the sounds of bushes and low lying branches being pushed aside behind him, acknowledged that the others were following.

"I feel a little trepidation John, so this would lead me to assume that they are not completely good readings..."

"Swell..." John muttered to himself and gripped his P90 a little tighter.

A loud howling noise filled the air then, coming from their left and John thought immediately of all the horror movies that he had seen as a teenager. That sound was definitely worse than anything he had heard while watching those.

"Jesus Sheppard. What the hell was that? Still picking up no life signs – damn it!" Rodney's voice was loud behind him and John stopped in his tracks, held up his hand for the others to do the same.

"Shhh Rodney. Ronon? Got a clear direction on that?"

"Left Sheppard, beyond that tree there. Very close to the city, I'm guessing."

"Great." muttered Sheppard, and unclipping his P90, he motioned for the others to secure their weapons and follow him.

The howling sounded again, loud and drawn out this time – closer than they had heard it the first time. It did not sound human and it definitely sounded as though it came from something big – very big. Using stealth to get through the undergrowth was a difficult task. It was impossible to mask the sounds of their progress and John did not want to remain out here in the open with that creature on the loose. He looked around. Trees, bushes – but no proper cover should whatever was at the other end of that howling, decide to coming looking for them.

"Get to the city. Anything comes out of those trees – blast the crap out of it. Don't stop to see what it is. Got that?"

"You don't need to tell me twice." grumbled Ronon, twirling his energy weapon. "I have no intention of looking that damn thing in the eyes before it dies."

"Thatta boy Chewie..."

The howling sounded again, louder and closer and they could hear a thunderous crashing in the bushes to their left. Whatever was making that sound had heard them, or sensed their presence and was now coming after them. Stealth was obviously not in his mind, either. John dropped back and let Ronon come forward to take the lead, wanting to be the one at their six if that creature came through from behind.

"Go, Ronon – head to the city. Go!"

John, pausing slightly to make sure that Ronon was leading the others away, turned to face the sound that was now right behind him. Holding his P90 out in front of him, he dropped slightly into a defensive crouch and watched in trepidation as the tops of the trees began moving, signifying that the creature was very very near.

"Come out and get me, you bastard! I'm ready for you..." His eyes flickered from tree to tree, anticipating it's point of entry and as it burst out of the bushes, his eyes then widened. It was terrifying large. Resembling a large primate, not unlike King Kong, John had to fight the urge to laugh. Not from humour, but from fear. This thing was huge and extremely menacing, and judging by the way it bared it's sharp and very large teeth, it was not looking to make his acquaintance in a good way.

"Ok, so maybe not that ready..." The creature howled again and at close quarters, the sound drummed into his head and he almost dropped his weapon in his desire to clap his hands to his ears to block it out. By force of will, he brought up his weapon and began firing, the bullets from the P90 pinging off his coat of thick fur with very little pause, seeming only to add to the extreme agitation that the creature was already experiencing.

"Crap..." John turned and ran, knowing that it was unlikely that he would be able to outrun this much larger creature, but had no desire to simply stand there and let him take him.

Yelling to Ronon that he was right behind him, John ran – feeling the hot breath of the creature on his neck, then the sudden burning pain as one of his large paws connected with his back and knocked him down. Intense pain ground over him, immersing him in fire and agony as a wound was opened on his back. He lay on the path, unable to draw a breath and felt the shuddering of the earth as the creature lumbered up behind him. He was picked up in it's large paw, hearing Ronon shout from behind him. He could barely look around for his team mate, the burning in his back was intense and blackness threatened to reach up and enclose him. He struggled a little in the paw of the creature, but succeeded only in agravating the pain, so with a cry he fell still, staring up at the darkening sky as the shouts of his friends were left behind.


	3. Chapter 3 The Trap

CHAPTER 3 – THE TRAP

Pain blurred the edges of John's consciousness. The burning in his back was intense and he fought to take calming breaths, to take the required amount of air into his lungs to keep him alive. He was half carried and half dragged and the constant jarring over the uneven ground had him both gasping in pain and fighting unconsciousness. He did not want to succumb. While the darkness may have been preferrable to the pain, he needed to try and ascertain where the creature was taking him. If he had any chance at all of getting out of this, it would rely on him staying as alert as possible.

Just when he thought that he would be able to endure no more of the pain, the creature bellowed – loud and extremely angry. Then John felt the ground fall away from beneath them – both of them, and then the sensation of falling. The creature landed hard – very hard and John was cushioned a little as the paw of the creature landed on his torso giving John a softer landing. It had hurt anyway, and opening his eyes cautiously he looked upwards to find that the sky was now a lot further away than it was before and they appeared to now be in the bottom of a deep hole.

This day was so not going to plan.

The creature did not move, either winded, unconscious or dead – John did not know and for now? Did not care. He carefully attempted to extricate himself from the large claw like fingers of the paw and groaning in pain, he managed to sit up – fighting the edges of darkness that threatened to send him over the edge.

A blur of motion and he saw her. Blinked his eyes several times as if she was a mirage and would simply not be there the next time he looked. Leaning over the edge of the hole – a pit really, she had long hair and a somewhat dirty face, but her eyes were what captured his attention. Bright, bright blue, especially so amongst the grime that coated her face.

"Hey...?" His voice came out as a croak, and he groaned again – unable to focus on anything more than the intense pain in his back. He tried again. "Any chance you have a rope up there – can help me out of here?"

Those blue eyes blinked and he felt an immediate sense of loss as though a light had been switched off. Then they opened again and the light came back on. He sighed in relief. "Can you understand me?"

"Do I look like I am less than intelligent?" Her voice had a husky quality, as though unused for a length of time, and those blue eyes now held the sharp spark of anger.

"Ah, no... I wouldn't presume to know your level of intelligence. However, I am trapped down here and would be most appreciative of any assistance you can offer?" John's words came out forced – the pain was making it hard to speak and his vision was swimming in and out of blackness as he found it increasingly harder and harder to stay alert. Something flashed in her eyes, and he saw that she had immediately assessed the situation and he let his eyes drift shut. Just for a little while. A little peace.

"Do not sleep yet. That is most important. If I am to get you out of there, you need to be alert and awake or I will be unable to assist you." He voice was sharper now, less husky and it served to cut through the fog that was encroaching on his mind and he forced his eyes to open again.

"Sorry, not trying to be rude... just tired... really tired."

"You body is going into shock and wishes to shut down for a period of time so that it can commence repairs. That is not unusual. But I need you to delay this for a short time, so that you can assist me in helping you out of the there. The creature is likely not dead. These traps do not contain them for long and we will need to get moving, and fast – before it wakes up and decides that it will not in fact save you for a later meal."

"Ok sweetheart, point taken. What do you have up there?" Her sharp tone had succeeded in getting through to him, and he pushed himself up a little, extricating himself now from the creatures sharp claws. His back protested, but he managed to push the pain back into a recess of his mind and easing himself up still further, realised that he could in fact stand.

"I have a rope that I can secure up here. If you look up at the walls of the trap, you will see that there are small recesses packed into the dirt sides. These are for the purpose of the smaller prey to escape should they become trapped with one of these Hoarders."

"Hoarders? That is what you call these things? And there are others on this planet?"

She tossed down a rope which hit him hard on the head, causing him to yelp a little. She did not apologise and he bit back a retort. No point in aggravating her – at this stage she was his only point of escape. His team had last seen him dragged off bleeding and likely assumed him dead. He knew that they would come after him, following the trail that the creature had left – but that would take them some time and as the girl had said. They needed to get out of there before it awoke.

"There is only me." Her quiet comment had him pausing, and he looked up at her to see the flash of pain in her eyes.

"You've been alone for a long time?" His voice was soft now, and he gave the rope an experimental pull to test it's strength. She had done her job well, the rope held and he looked upward, following the small recesses that she had pointed out to him and mentally prepared himself for the pain that the climb would bring.

"Too long..." Her voice trailed off and when he looked back up she had disappeared. He felt a moment of panic, wondering at the circumstances that had led her to be in this situation. One human survivor on a planet where large predators roamed at will. Surviving against the odds, and managing to set off an emergency beacon to alert someone else in the galaxy as to her presence. He didn't comment, simply put all his strength and energy into pulling himself up the rope, resting between recesses and pushing back the pain as much as he was able.

He neared the top and she reappeared. At close quarters now, those eyes were stunning. Bright and crystalline with depths of sapphire that he could easily get lost in and he simply stared into them, as though to read her story right there and then. Her small hand reached down to take hold of his, and with a strength that belied her small frame, she pulled and had him up and over the side, collapsed and groaning on the ground above the hole.

"You cannot stay here. He will awaken soon and we need to take refuge. Come. I have a place where they cannot find us – it is the only safe place. Then I will take you to the city. Night comes now, and we cannot go to the city during the night. That is their time to hunt. We will wait until morning returns and I will take you there. You have brought others with you?"

John fought to sit up, feeling dizzy and took deep breaths to squash down the nausea. He felt her hand at the back of his head, forcing it down slightly so that it rested lower and combatted the dizzyness. Her other hand felt his forehead and the hand felt cool and … nice. He closed his eyes and let her touch instill some calm amongst the turmoil and when he opened his eyes again, he face was in front of his, concerned.

"You do not have a fever – yet. Those wounds on your back need immediate attention. Out here infection festers extremely fast and if I do not treat them with my medicines, you will likely become very sick and die. Come with me – I will help you, but we need to move quickly."

"Aahh... quickly may be an issue..."

She certainly didn't allow it to be. She got her small frame under his shoulder and helped him to stand and once the blood had settled into the right sections of his body and his heart had stopped thudding so hard in his chest, he allowed himself to lean on her, cursing himself mentally for doing so. But there was no other way he was going to make it back to safety without her help, and for now? He would have to accept it.

She took his weight and they worked together for at least half an hour. When he thought he couldn't take anymore and went to simply collapse onto the ground, her voice was sharp in his ear and he willed himself to continue. For a little while more.

They came upon a small cluster of buildings, built in a semi circle, each doorway facing outwards – and John was reminded of the intel that Rodney had passed on about the buildings being arranged a certain way as though to ward something off.

"Are we in the city?" John's voice was hoarse and she looked quickly at him, hearing the pain in his voice.

"Not the city. This is a small outpost where the guardians of the city lived. They were the protectors – they knew how to keep the Hoarders out. They used a form of mind energy to create a protective circle within which we were able to live peacefully. The Hoarders stayed outside the protective circle and we manage to coexist in this manner for hundreds of years. Until the circle became broken. A long story, and one I will tell you once I have tended to your wounds."

"Are we safe here? My friends... are still on this planet. Are they safe?"

"I hope they have had the foresight to take refuge for the coming night. But if they went into the city? They will not find the refuge that they are looking for."

She pushed open one of the doors and helped him inside and knowing that he would be unable to stand unaided, she gently moved him towards the single bed that stood in one corner of the room and lowered him to a seated position on the bed.

"I will assist you soon. I need to gather my equipment and seal the protective circle before nightfall." She turned to leave, but he reached out quickly and grabbed for her hand, stilling her movements and pulling her closer toward him. Those blue eyes opened wider and he gently stroked her hand to calm her and let her know that he meant her no harm.

"Thank you. For helping me." He said it softly, his thumb rubbing gently over her hand. Looking down at their joined hands, then back into his face, she reached up with her other hand and pushed the long somewhat tangled hair, out of her eyes. He let his eyes rove over her face, the high cheekbones and the heart shaped face topped off by those incredible blue eyes. The light coating of grime on her face did not in any way take away the beauty of the woman who stood before him and he let his eyes travel down her body. High, smallish breasts, tiny waist and long slim legs that showed quite clearly from beneath the short ragged skirt that she wore and as she felt his gaze travel over her body she blushed and used her free hand to tug down her skirt.

"I do not usually appear this disheviled or dirty. I have been out gathering food for the coming days and this is a somewhat tiresome and dirty job. I will bathe as soon as I prepare the water, as you may wish to do also before we attend to your wounds. They will be much easier to dress if they were clean. I must also prepare the fire for the night. I burn it all night, using a specific wood that seems to repell the creatures for a period. Out here, alone? I do what I can to survive."

She pulled her hand from his and turned to leave, but his voice stopped her.

"Dirt or no dirt – you have my gratitude and for the record? You're no longer alone..."


	4. Chapter 4 Alone For Too Long

CHAPTER 4 – ALONE FOR TOO LONG

He felt useless – hell, next to useless. He could hear her moving around outside and could not rouse himself to get out there and help her. She had been alone for too long, by her own admission, and now she had a man here who could take some of the pressure off those necessary night time preparations to keep the creatures away, and he was of no use to her at all. He mentally cursed himself, then grimacing, decided that he would not simply sit here and have her do all the work. Pain or or pain, he would get out there and help her.

He got himself to the doorway and stood swaying a little, feeling the world recede to a small narrow field in front of his eyes. God, everything hurt and he wanted more than anything, the blissful silence of sleep. The blessed painfree tunnel of unconsciousness that only sleep would bring.

He heard a muttered curse and smiled to himself, pushing it down quickly as a pile of wood went rolling past. A flustered and angry woman strode past the doorway, bending quickly to retrieve the escaping wood, pausing when she sensed his presence in the doorway.

"Why are you out here? You need to be resting, not aggravating your wounds. It is irresponsible on your part. You need to take precautions to ensure that those wounds heal so that we can make our way to the city tomorrow, once morning comes."

"I can't sit back and watch a woman bust her gut... not in my nature sweetheart, I'm sorry. So tell me what to do, and we'll do it together. I can survive a little while longer before you treat me, and the sooner we get these tasks done, the sooner you can slap some ointment onto these wounds. Deal?"

She arched her back slightly, a subconscious movement to ease muscles in her back that must be protesting from the heavy load of wood that she carried. He pushed toward her as quickly as he was able and reached out to take some of the load before it toppled over again. Locking his own eyes with her brilliant blue ones, he attempted to send her a clear message. Let him help, let him be the man... let someone in...

She kept her gaze on his and nodded once. Understanding immediately. And led him to a large fire pit where she released the load of wood in her arms and stretched again, to ease the ache in her muscles. It took him a little longer. The pain was almost debilitating but he chose – no, forced himself – not to give into it. Releasing his load he stood beside her, his hand going to the small of her back of it's own accord and began a gentle massage that had her eyes opening wide and slanting immediately to his.

"Relax... let me help you... just for a moment. Ok?" He felt her slowly relax and felt the knotted muscles begin to ease, then quickly took his hand away – noting the smile of thanks she sent his way. He put out his hand then and picked up her small one in it. Shook it gently, smiling at her now.

"Colonel John Sheppard, current residence – the city of Atlantis. Formerly of the planet earth. Pleased to meet you."

"I am Keli, and until several months ago? This was a thriving community and I lived here happily with my brother and father. Practicing medicinal healing. It all changed Colonel John Sheppard. In the blink of an eye it would seem, although that sounds somewhat fanciful. In the blink of an eye, my life was changed and my family gone. My entire city was gone. In the blink of an eye."

He tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her a little closer so that he could look down into her face. Her eyes were downcast and when they tipped up so that he could look into them, he saw the sheen of tears and used a thumb to brush them away.

"We heard your distress call Keli – from the other side of the galaxy. Let's get this fire started and complete whatever else needs to be done. You'll not be alone anymore – as soon as we can, I'll get you out of here. Back to Atlantis."

He helped as best as he could. The fire was soon roaring and the wood stacked up in readiness for the night vigil. Water had been brought in and heated and was now settled in a giant tub and with Keli's assistance, John had managed to get himself into the tub, opting to retain some dignity by keeping on his undergarments in her presence, and she had poured the warm, healing water over his battlescarred skin and washed away as much of the dirt as she could. An equivalent of a towel was produced and she gently patted the wounds dry, feeling his intake of breath at the pain she must be causing him, then propelling him back toward the building with his clothes, she enjoyed a few minutes privacy to complete her own bathing.

John had started the kitchen fire when she had gotten back into the building and the room was now warm. He had put his trousers back on, but kept his shirt off so that she could tend to his wounds and pausing a moment to take in his naked torso, she felt a breath hitch inwards, watching as the firelight from the kitchen played suggestively over his muscled body. She couldn't stop her eyes from roaming over him hungrily. It had been a long time since she had male companionship and as he stood in front of her now, virile and extremely male, she had the urge to reach out and stroke her hand down his torso and lower... to what she had seen when he had climbed into the tub.

Her eyes flew to his when she heard him chuckle. "Your face is extremely transparent Keli. I read every one of your thoughts like a book... and if you feel like acting on any of those... thoughts... feel free. My body may protest just a little, but the rest of me is very willing. Have no doubt about that."

She blushed and brought a hand up to smooth down her long wet hair – now clean from the rigorous attention she had given it in the warm tub.

"You speak your mind Colonel John Sheppard. That is somewhat... refreshing. But we are strangers, you came to rescue me but it was I who needed to rescue you. Feelings from such an event cause reactions in ones body that are not entirely truthful."

"Needs and emotions, Keli. They are not always logical. Mostly, as humans? We do what we feel and acting on those feelings is an entirely natural process."

"Perhaps... for now? I shall tend to your wounds. Allow me a moment to collect my medicines."

He had come up behind her and lifted her long dripping hair off her back. "Firstly, allow me to dry your hair a little. You'll catch a cold letting it wet your clothes like that..."

"A cold?" Fascinated in spite of herself, she had stilled her movements and allowed him to take up the towel and begin to dry her hair. Standing near the fire, the play of the flames caused her face to heat slightly and she wondered if in fact it was a result of the fire... or something else.

"A small ailment, viral in nature and commonly, or should I say – mistakenly, thought to be aggravated by immersion in cold water and allowing your body to be cold for a long period."

A small laugh escaped Keli. "Rest assured, Colonel John Sheppard. This 'cold' you speak of? Does not appear to by an infliction that we have encountered before. But you are correct. It is certainly more comfortable without long wet hair dripping down one's back."

He chuckled and moving his body a little closer, he continued to dry her hair, taking in the light scent that came off her skin... flowers and something musky and closed his eyes to savour the sensations that began to pulse through him. Lust, yes. And something else. Protectiveness. For a woman who had been alone on planet where she had managed to elude a predator that had very little to fear.

She sent him back to the bed and gathered her medicines, and in the darkening gloom of the building, lit now only by the firelight and two small lamps that sat on the table, she sat behind him on the bed and ran her hand softly down his back, pausing whenever he winced at her contact with the wounds.

"They are deep and will require a long healing time. I have medicines that will hopefully eliminate the infection before it begins to set in, and some of these have a numbing effect to ease the pain. They will hurt a little upon application, and I apologise in advance for the pain that this may cause you."

"Please Keli, just do it. And just so you know... the name? Just John, ok. The whole rank is not necessary when addressing... a friend."

"A friend? You consider me a friend? After such a short time?" He small hands began their work and he had to groan more than once as the cream burned and aggravated as it was applied. Each time he did, her movements stilled for a moment and she waited for him to get his breath back before she recommenced her work.

"A friend can be recognised immediately Keli. In the blink of an eye. I trust my instincts."

"As do I John... and my instincts tell me also, that you are a good man, a good person. You will take me back to your city. Atlantis?" She began to wrap bandages around his torso so that they completed covered his back, and as she moved in front of him, his hand came up to gently stroke her face.

"I won't leave you here Keli. If there were others, we would take them back with us as well. You are really the only one left?"

"I'll begin the evening meal John, and once we have eaten, we can exchange stories. I prefer to keep a vigil through most of the night and only sleep in the early hours of the morning. The fire has been successful mostly, in keeping the Hoarders away, but I have always remained vigilant. I am sure that if I did not do this, then I would be taken by surprise. This cannot be allowed to happen."

She watched as his eyes closed slightly and knew that his body desperately needed rest. "Sleep for a short time John. I will wake you when the meal is ready. Your body needs the rest for the journey tomorrow. I will look out for you..."

"Kinda like that idea..." and his eyes closed on the last word. She stood for a moment looking down at him, the peaceful lines of his face as sleep claimed him and smiled. In a city of superstitions, she had always believed in fate. _And perhaps, _ she thought, looking down at him, _my fate comes in the form of this man from another world._


	5. Chapter 5 Her Story

CHAPTER 5 – HER STORY

It was the smell of hot tasty food that had him cracking open his eyes and groaning a little at the pain that immediately shot through him. Not just his back, but every available part of his body was either on fire or ached right through to the depths of his bones. He moved his head so that he could look into the other part of the room, where the kitchen area was. He saw her standing at the small wood fired stove and enjoyed the view of her nicely rounded bottom that twitched invitingly as she moved from the stove to the small bench, then back again. And feeling more than just a twitch down below, he grinned to himself. _Well Sheppard... you know at least one part of your body that is still functioning more of less as it should be..._

She turned then, as if sensing that he stared at her and had a small smile on her face.

"I would say that you look rested John, but I fear I would be caught in a lie."

He huffed out a small laugh at that. "Yeah, I can imagine that every ache and pain is pretty much showing on my face right now. But damn, that food sure smells good. And yes, if that is your next question? I am most definitely hungry!"

"Good," she smiled, "because it is almost ready. Do you wish me to help you get to the table."

"Think I got it Keli, thanks..." and groaning just a little at the stiffness that had settled into his limbs, he felt like an old man as he moved slowly and very painfully over to the table, easing himself down into one of the chairs. She brought over steaming bowls of what looked like some sort of stew and after placing a utensil in front of him he waited until she had seated herself and picked up her own spoon, before taking that first mouthful.

It was delicious. Filled with fragrant herbs, tasty vegetables and a meat that he preferred not to try and analyse, it was the sort of comfort food that his grandmother would have made on a cold winters day, the sort of food she would have said 'stuck to your ribs'.

He didn't talk while he ate, and she seemed content to remain silent also – occasionally flicking assessing glances at him as though to gauge his reaction to the food. The content look on his face as he ate, brought a smile to hers and she continued her meal in silence. There would be time enough to talk later. After the meal and the chores had been completed. He helped her to wash up after, content to wash the dishes and pass them to her for drying. A simple task completed in companionable silence and he enjoyed the simplicity of it without the need to talk nor attempt to formulate complicated thoughts in his head.

Afterwards she guided him back to the bed and insisted he lay down. After tending to the fire outside, she came back in to brew an equivalent to a coffee and it was only then, after placing a steaming cup in his hands and pulling up a chair for herself near the bed, that she settled back with her own drink and stared assessingly at him.

"What do you know of this planet, John?"

"Pretty much can cover that in one short sentence Keli. Very little. When we received your emergency beacon, we did access our data base to call up any information we could, but very little seems to be known about this planet by the ancients – the ones who inhabited the city before we did."

Keli took another sip and stared somewhat broodingly at him now. "I know of the ancients. There is much folk lore throughout this galaxy – stories about the wraith and their battle with the ancients and how they were forced out of this galaxy a long long time ago. To settle elsewhere. The wraith continued to spread their vile ways throughout this galaxy and they no longer had anyone that could stop them. They do not come to this planet – mostly because of the Hoarders, and now – there is no human life here so they simply have no reason to come. But we heard rumours... not so long ago. About a new race of people that had come to this galaxy – humans yes, but different. From far away, another galaxy. Humans who could bring salvation to this galaxy and knew of a way to fight the wraith."

She paused now, blew gently on the steaming cup then took another sip. "Are you one of these humans, John? Do you have the knowledge to fight the wraith?"

"Sounds a little fanciful when you say it Keli – but yes, I am one of these humans. And yes, we have made some headway in fighting the wraith. It is still very much an ongoing battle, and will be for some time. We have scientists, doctors – all working on different ways to create viruses and destroy them – but it takes time, much time. Tell me... your story."

He settled back onto the bed, hot drink now finished and his eyes stayed locked with hers, reading the emotions that moved readily across her face and brought shadows and pain to her beautiful eyes. He wanted to reach out and wipe away the pain he saw there, wished that he could take back the last few months for her and bring back her people and family. But for now? For now he could listen and hopefully offer her sanctuary in Atlantis.

"We co-existed for many generations with the Hoarders. They were content to hunt for animals, rather than humans and we did not allow them to get a taste for humans – for fear that if they ever did, then they would turn their hunting skills in our direction and we would not be able to defend ourselves physically against such a formidable enemy."

John interupted her gently. "You spoke of a protective circle?"

Her gaze went inward and he knew that she was remembering. "Our beliefs here are strong. We have our ways, as do many of the planets in this galaxy and the guardians of this planet possessed certain powers – a mind energy for want of a better expression. They could connect that mind energy into a circle, forming a link – a protective link that acted as a shield, or a repellent for the Hoarders. They did not come near our city. They found their food elsewhere, and we did our hunting by day when they slept and they did there hunting by night. As I said – we co-existed."

"What happened Keli? That thing that got me earlier... it was definitely not night!"

"One of the guardians wandered too far from this protective area, where we are now. They were taken by a Hoarder, killed – and the circle was broken. There was not another fully trained who could take his place. Once the circle was broken, the Hoarders were able to enter the city at will – and they did, because by then they had been given a taste of human flesh. They found this far more to their liking that the smaller prey that is found on the rest of the planet."

John reached out and took her hand, folding it tightly between his own. "How long did it take before your city was taken. How long before they were all gone – and how did you escape?"

"So many questions John, and I will try to answer them all. It still pains me to think of that day – when I walked back into the city and found no one. All gone. I had been for a long walk to collect herbs and medicinal plants – far beyond the boundary of where I would normally travel. When I left, I did not know the circle had been broken. I did not sense that anything was wrong. I heard the Hoarders howling later that afternoon, and I knew then, that something was wrong. They did not hunt in the day and if they were awake and restless, then something had happened to raise their bloodlust."

He tightened his grip on her hand, feeling the quivering as emotions shot through her with startling intensity.

"There was so much blood John. I was physically ill – and I am a healer, used to blood and wounds. I knew then, that the very worst had happened. Those early days are a blur really, memories jumble together and form a strange and not so clear pattern. I remember wandering through the city, calling for anyone who would hear or respond. But nothing. For two days I did this – hiding by night as the Hoarders rampaged through the city looking for more food, then searching by day. Nothing. Everyone was gone. I wanted to give up, die also – and I started out of the city twice, hoping that I would get caught and it would be all over. Just like that. But for some reason I was meant to survive – and John? I did survive. Hunting, gathering and living on the edge most of the time... and oh, so alone..."

He eased himself back up on the bed, and tugged gently so that she moved off the chair and settled onto the bed beside him. He sensed the struggle in her body, the abject sorrow and the inherent tiredness and easing her beside him, he lay behind her, feeling her warmth pressed up in front of him. Wrapping his arms around her he dropped his head into her hair and held her. To let her know that she was no longer alone.

He needed to know more. "The beacon Keli? Why did it take you so long to activate the beacon? And why did you simply not just leave through the stargate?"

"I had no idea there was one. A beacon as you call it. I found it by accident. By days I would search the city, for food for anything that would keep me alive. I attempted to get to the stargate, but found that the device to dial outwards? Was broken."

At this news John winced. They had not checked the device for outward dialling when they arrived and he hoped that whatever was stopping the stargate from working at this end – Rodney would have the parts handy to fix it. Fortunately he generally travelled with extra crystals and other parts as they had been in that situation before – stranded on a world with a broken DHD, learning their lesson the hard way.

She did not notice that this news upset him, and continued her story. " I understood that by burning a certain type of wood, something in the smoke seemed to repell the Hoarders, so I kept fires burning throughout the night. Every day, I went back to the city. Searching. Hidden deep in a vault underground I found devices – devices that I did not recognise, had never seen before. I started to attempt to understand them and spent over a month pulling them apart and trying to make them work. I must have activated this beacon you told me about. Not knowingly, but by accident."

She fell silent then, and he felt some of the tension ease out of her body and when her breathing changed he realised that she had fallen asleep. Exhausted from fighting a battle alone – a battle meant for several armies. He hugged her tight against him, feeling that growing protectiveness and knew that desire also flirted along the edges of his consciousness. But not tonight. Tonight he would protect and allow her some time to rest.

Tomorrow they would go to the city and find his team. And leave this godforsaken planet behind.


	6. Chapter 6 The City Lies Sleeping

CHAPTER 6 – THE CITY LIES SLEEPING

It had been a long time since John had woken up to a warm body pulled up tight against him. Without thought, his hand began an exploration of it's own and it was the hitch of her breath and the tensing of her body that stilled his hand. His voice murmured in her ear and she shivered at the sensation.

"Sorry... mind of it's own... go back to sleep."

"I need to check the fire John – I usually do not sleep for such long periods. Please. Let me up."

He felt the instant cold of her departure and shivered a little to try and get back the lost body warmth. He heard the door open and felt the draft of colder air that blew in, and rolled himself out of bed feeling each pull and tear of his muscles, along with the aching pain that had settled into his back. He moved over to the stove and added some more wood, waiting in front of it until the flames were strong again and he heard her come in.

"I need to redress your wounds John. Sit down on one of the chairs and I will reapply the ointment. This will help the pain a little – I can see in your eyes that it returns."

His eyes watched her as she bustled around the kitchen. It was still dark outside and he wondered at the time. He felt disorientated, relying on her for simple things went against his usual doctrine and he mentally cursed himself. Needing to be on the move again and finding his team. Hoping that they had managed to get to a safe location for the night and that they would manage to meet up with them in the morning.

Bending behind him she undid the dressings from earlier and gently inspected the wounds. He closed his eyes at the feel of her hands and felt the whisper of her breath on his bare skin and she leaned in close to rewrap the bandages around his torso to keep the wounds fully covered.

"No sign of infection John, for that I am grateful. It is early and I don't need any more sleep this night. I will prepare some breakfast so that we can leave at first light. Do you wish to sleep more?"

"Nah, I'm good. I need to warm my muscles up a little before we get moving."

"You should really rest some more, John. Your body has not had sufficient time to begin healing. Even if you do not sleep, you should at least lie down."

"I will only if you join me... it's kinda cold on the bed without you." Her body stilled it's movements and she half turned so that he could see the blush that stole up across her cheeks, and he noticed that the pan was put down a little more forcibly that it should have been. A sure sign that his comment had flustered her.

"I don't say that to embarrass you Keli – I like the feel of your body beside mine. It's been a long time since I shared a bed with anyone – well, for more than quick pleasure anyway. I enjoyed the feel of your body in front of mine, and waking up with you there... kinda nice..."

"It has likely been even longer for me John... and yes, I would agree with you. It was … nice." He saw the small smile that came to her face before she turned back to her task at the bench and he gave a mental fist pump. Protective feelings aside, he was beginning to develop a few more besides those ones and more than just a small part of him wanted to explore those feelings a little further. And fully intended to.

Breakfast was ready when the first light began to curl it's tentative fingers through the dark sky and hope came with the new day. Placing food onto the table Keli lifted her eyes to meet John's amused ones.

"I can really leave this planet John? With you and your friends? Will they be able to repair the portal, the ring?"

"Rodney? He's a pain in the ass most of the time, but he's got a brilliant mind and can pretty much fix anything. He is extremely arrogant and would never admit that there was actually something that he didn't know how to fix. And the answer to your first question? I'm not going anywhere without you, so if I go, so do you..."

"Would you be able to put my skills to use in your city? I am a skilled healer and would not be a burden on your society."

"Without a doubt Keli – and I would never assume that you would be a burden. You have spent several months working here to keep yourself alive and find a way to get help. That is not the sign of someone who seeks to be a burden. Now, come here..."

She looked at him with alarm. Having just finished their breakfast, she had collected the dishes and was about to clean them before leaving for the city.

"Don't look at me like that – I have no intention of hurting you... please, come here." He held out a hand and she hesitantly walked toward him and took the hand he offered. He tugged gently so that she moved into his arms, but mindful of the wounds on his back, she did not place her arms around him as was her natural reaction, but brought them up to place flat against his chest, as though feeling the muscle through his shirt. Tipping her head up she looked into his laughing eyes.

"There... that didn't hurt, did it?"

"No, John – that most certainly did not hurt. You feel... nice. Strong and in control. It would be nice to have someone take care of me for a little while... I'm tired of always looking over my shoulder, perhaps it is time to let someone else look out for the danger."

She dropped her head forward so that it rested against his shoulder and could feel the vibration from the quiet laughter that rumbled slightly in his chest. He chose not to answer, just dropped his own head so that it rested against hers and held her like that for a while. Warm and secure in his arms and content to let him take charge, for just a short while.

Reluctantly he felt her pull away and watched as she moved toward the door. "Time for us to go John. To the city and find your friends. Daylight will come very soon and the Hoarders will sleep. The one that hunted you yesterday during the day? That does not occur very often, perhaps it had it's sleep disturbed when you and your friends came through the portal."

"How far is the city Keli?"

"The same distance as the portal is from the city, just situated in the opposite direction so we would need to move twice as far to get all the way to the portal. I hope you are able to move that distance with your wounds? If we can locate your friends quickly, perhaps they are strong enough to assist you. I can help you a short distance as I did yesterday, but you are much bigger than me and I cannot maintain that level of assistance for very long."

"Sweetheart? You did good yesterday. I would have died without you, and that means in my book – I owe you a big one. I always repay my debts Keli, and I'll not forget what you did for me."

He moved past her at the door, pausing to reach out lightly and brush his lips across hers. Not wanting to startle her, but just wanting a quick taste, a promise of what will come to pass. He saw her eyes close briefly and when he stepped back she moved her hand up touch her lips as though to feel the touch he had left behind. Her eyes darted quickly to his and she saw the smile on his face and was able to answer with one of her own before following him out the door. Still feeling the tingling that his kiss had left behind.

The trip to the city was long and he felt the pain of every step. Carson would have a field day with him when he got back to Atlantis and would be incarcerating him in the infirmary for a long period of time to make sure that he gave those wounds time to heal. Not something he was especially looking forward to.

When they came closer to the gates of the city, John could see clearly the signs of neglect and disuse. Vines and other shrubs had wound their way through the masonry and cracked the facade of many of the buildings. Cracks had appeared in the paths through out the city, where weeds had grown up, now bigger that some of the small gates. It felt like a ghost town, the absence of people a tangible quality as he limped through the streets, looking into windows and darkened doorways. Reaching the middle of the city he stood in the centre of the roadway and cupping his hands around his mouth he called out to his team.

Echoes bounced back off the walls and he stood still and silent, waiting for a response from them. Eerie and silent, the air was thick with something unspoken and a quivering of energy that seemed to hang supressed and unused. He reached out his hand as though he could physically touch it and met the questioning look in Keli's eyes.

"The air feels strange... as though it is alive. Why is that?"

"Part of the protective shield, the circle. There is residual from it in the air, even though it is broken. We who live here do not feel or notice it. Outsiders are not used to it's qualities, so it appears to them as though a tangible thing."

"Ronon? Teyla? Rodney? I'm here – in the middle of the city. Jesus guys, let's get the hell out of this place..." He turned in a circle, calling out as he turned and noticed that Keli was moving toward a recessed darkened doorway.

"Wait here for your friends John. I am just going down to the vault below ground to retrieve some of those devices for you to take back to your city. Your scientists will find them fascinating and I would prefer not to return to your city emptyhanded."

"Ok Keli. I'll stay up here... hurry though. Getting out of here is starting to look better and better." A quick smile for him and she was gone and John became instantly distracted by a humming noise that moved slowly and steadily through the air. He turned in the direction that he heard it coming and felt at the same time as he saw, the large brick that tumbled down from the roof of the building he stood near. Felt the impact, heard the excited cry of Ronan, then felt the darkness reach up and grab him by the balls – finally making him succumb to what he should have wallowed in the previous day.

Then nothing until he woke up in the infirmary in Atlantis.


	7. Chapter 7 Left Behind

CHAPTER 7 – LEFT BEHIND

Pain pulsed through his head when he woke up in the infirmary almost twelve hours later. Pain and a whole lot more. Memory... He groaned and Carson was beside him in an instant and opening his eyes against the glare of the infirmary lights he made out Ronon's formidable figure as it lounged negligently against the doorframe.

"Sheppard. About time that hard head of yours decided to rejoin us." The deep voice rumbled out of his chest and he pushed away from the door to come closer, looking down at the somewhat battered Colonel that lay in the infirmary bed.

"Where is she... damn it Ronon? Where is she...?" His voice came out a croak and he had to shake his head slightly to clear the fog that crept over his brain, making it hard for cohesive thought to push through. The movement hurt his head further and he shut his eyes, wanting silence... but wanting desperately to know where she was.

"Who are you talking about Sheppard?" Ronon peered down at him in query, thinking that the blow to his head had scrambled his brain.

"Jesus, Ronon. Did you guys leave her behind...ah crap... gotta go back and find her." His voice was fading in and out as the pain escalated, and Carson, becoming alarmed now went to get a sedative for him. His agitated movements in the bed were aggravating the wounds on his back and Ronon reached out two large hands to place on his shoulders, pinning him down to the bed until Carson could bring back some relief for him.

He didn't hear Carson's comment about her being a figment of his imagination, felt only the sting of the needle and welcomed the blackness of oblivion, convinced that when he woke up again, all of this would be a bad dream and she would be standing over the bed looking down at him.

Ronon remained beside his bed, concerned at the comments that John had uttered in his delirium. They had heard him yelling in that abandoned city and had come running to see him take a fall – hit by a large chunk of masonry that had fallen from the roof of a nearby building. He was unconscious by the time they had reached him, and needing to get out of this place before the large creatures came back, Ronon had simply picked his friend up and headed back to the stargate. He had left Rodney and Teyla at the gate – Rodney had spent the better part of the early morning attempting to repair the fried crystal, and as soon as it appeared that progress was being made, Ronon had left the two of them there and gone in search of John. The last time they had seen him was when the large primate creature had dragged him through the undergrowth. They had immediately followed him, the trail of blood an easy tracking system and they had come to the large hole where traces of blood had been found at the bottom. Along with the large creature that showed clear signs of being about to awaken.

And awaken he did, blinking his large cold eyes at them, and they had immediately turned tail and ran, after ascertaining very quickly that their weapons seemed to have no effect on him. Searching beyond that point had seemed pointless. The creature no longer had John in it's possession and they had agreed to get to the abandoned city. Rodney had voiced the opinion that if John had managed to get away from the creature, then that is where he would head in order to meet up with them.

They had spent the night in the city, searching for the Colonel, but there had been no sign of him. Deciding to head back to Atlantis to bring back reinforcements to enable the search to progress faster, they had discovered that the DHD had been damaged... and so turned the full circle.

Rodney entered the infirmary to check on the progress of their friend.

"How's he doing Ronon? Woken up yet?" Rodney had his hand held computer in his hand and was checking the signature of the emergency beacon that was still being pulsed from the planet they had just left.

"Yeah... woke up for a few minutes muttering about some woman that we left behind. Sounded delirious and Doc put him under with some sort of sedative. But I gotta say McKay – I've never seen him so worked up about something. No chance that there was someone else on that planet? Where did he spend the night? Not in the city with us, or we would have seen some sign of him."

"There were no life signs on that planet, Ronon. I told you that." Impatient now, Rodney turned his attention back to his computer, sparing only a quick glance for the man who lay in the bed.

"And what do you call those large hairy creatures? They were most definitely alive. So why didn't your device pick up their life signs?"

"Aaah, therein lies the mystery Ronon. But there was definitely no other human in the vicinity of that city. We would have seen some sort of sign. This is interesting..."

"What?" Ronon attempted to look over his shoulder at what was on the computer.

"The signature of the emergency beacon? It's gotten stronger since we left the planet, as though someone cranked the juice up. Go figure... could be preset to increase exponentially if it is not turned off, but I would have liked to been able to locate the beacon and find out what activated it."

"McKay?"

"What, Ronon?"

"Maybe we should go back. To the planet..."

"Are you crazy Ronon? Big hairy monsters that kill people... Need I say more?"

"Not like Sheppard to make stuff up like that. If he says there was someone there – I believe him. Maybe she got hurt, and needs help. Damn – I'm going to talk to Carter. Something's not sitting right."

He strode out of the infirmary and headed straight to Sam's office, knocking but not pausing to allow her to ask him to enter. Ronon rarely stood on ceremonies and such niceties were not a necessary part of his life.

Sam was seated behind her desk massaging the sides of her head and he paused then, looking at the pain that quickly crossed her face.

"Ronon... this is a surprise..." Ronon shuttered his eyes slightly. He had not visited Sam in her office before and she knew his distrust of authority and had treated him more or less with kid gloves since her arrival in Atlantis. "Sorry Ronon, the mother of all headaches has decided to pay me a little visit and I need to get something for it before it grabs hold of me and shakes me in it's jaws."

"Got a little trick that might help... if you want?" At Ronon's offer, Sam looked up sharply and smiled at him – glad to have this conversation with him on a personal level, something she had been wanting to do for some time.

"Sure Ronon, happy to try anything at this point." Her eyes widened a little as he stepped around behind her desk and stood behind her. She was aware of his body, strong and very powerful and the fleeting thought crossed her mind that he could simply reach down and snap her neck in one swift movement.

"Relax... I don't bite..." She heard the smile in his voice and found herself muttering.

"I'm not so sure about that..."

She tensed slightly as he placed his hands on her neck, and pushing his thumbs sharply against a nerve at the base of her neck, she flinched briefly then felt a tingling followed by a numbness – then blessedly, no pain. Arching her back slightly she stretched her neck back, feeling the strength and warmth in his large hands.

"Ahhh Ronon – care to bottle that up for me for future use. I'd be tempted to find out what other magic little tricks you have up your sleeve, but I suspect you'd deny all knowledge... hmmm?"

A non commital grunt from the man and he removed his hands. Sam took a breath and found that the pain was indeed gone and she gently rotated her head from side to side before facing him. He returned to the other side of the desk, a small smile on his face and placed his hands on the desk.

"We need to go back Sam. To that planet. Sheppard's babbling about some woman he left behind – insists that there was someone else there. I don't feel right ignoring him – Carson thinks he's delusional, but I don't know... something doesn't sit right."

"I've learned one thing Ronon – trust your people. And you are my people now – all of you. If you say there's something more out there, then I trust that there is. Can you get some more information out of John so that you don't go in cold?"

"Doc's just put him under again, but if we go gear up now, then we can camp out in the infirmary until he's lucid again."

"Sounds like a good plan Ronon – one I'll support. Go get your team organised. Take extra marines with you this time, given the problems with the indigenous species on the planet, and make sure you take suitable weaponry this time – something with more firepower. And Ronon?"

He was about to leave her office and turned back quickly to hear what she had to say, one eyebrow raised in query.

"Thank you. For the pain relief." Her smile quirked and he felt something shift inside him. Something basic and powerful. Attraction. And saw by the look in her eyes that she felt it too.


	8. Chapter 8 The Colonel and the Girl

CHAPTER 8 – THE COLONEL AND THE GIRL

John came out of his drug induced sleep with a temper to match his headache. Strong and pulsing and he felt the need to hit out at something. His thoughts went to her immediately. Keli. Real or imagined? He began to doubt his own mind, at the mercy of the drugs in his system and the firm belief that Carson had infused in him that he had imagined her.

"Ronon... where the hell are you? I feel like crap and damn... I want to hit something about now. Jesus, Carson. What is the crap you injected into my system?"

"Calm down now Colonel – you are feeling not just the effects of the sedative, but the nasty knock you took to that rather hard and stubborn head of yours. Give yourself a few minutes to get your equilibrium back and take a few sips of water here. You're dehydrated as well, and if we can't get fluid into you fast and naturally, I'm going to have to start an IV."

"You'll do no such thing!" John bellowed and turning his head he heard Ronon enter the room and noted immediately that he had his weapon and was geared up and ready to go. He pushed himself out of bed, and felt his head immediately begin to swim and Carson's restraining hands on his shoulders, attempting to push him back down.

"Do more Doc – I mean it. I put up with this crap in my system, I'll not put up with anymore. Let me out of here now, and we go back to find her. She's not a damn figment of my imagination. She looked after me through that night, tended my wounds. How the hell do you think that bandage appeared on me? You think I did it myself?"

He was yelling now and Ronon flicked a glance between the doctor and the irrate Colonel who was rummaging around on the chair beside the bed, looking for his clothes.

"I believe you Sheppard – and I've cleared the mission with Sam. We're good to go – you said there was a girl? I trust you man, and we'll go back and get her. We've got additional marines gearing up and we're going in with extra firepower to take down those creatures. Take it easy Sheppard – we've got this one."

Carson watched the high colour slowly seep out of the Colonel's face as Ronon's words set in. Saw him take calming breaths, and ease himself back down so that he was sitting on the bed. "Carson. I need to go on this mission – I'll not sit here while she's lost and alone in the damn city. She's been on her own so long – she's strong, really, but tired and she was so happy that I was going to bring her back here... damn it!" He closed his eyes and scrubbed a hand through his hair, picturing her face and how hurt she must be feeling thinking that he had left her alone again.

"I gave her my word that we'd bring her back. All her people are gone – taken by those damn creatures... long story – but it was a long night and she told me everything that had happened on that planet, how it all came to pass. I left her there..."

Ronon looked down at this friend, his commander. "We left her there. It was on our backs, not yours. When we found you knocked unconscious, there was no one else around – we had no reason to think there was another."

"She was down in the vault – she had gone down to bring up some ancient devices that she thought we would accept as payment for taking her in. _Thats_ the sort of person she is. Kind and caring and not wanting to be a burden on anyone... and I left her there!"

He pushed himself up from the bed now, and leaned heavily on Ronon to get his balance. "I'm going with you, no argument. I know where she will be – not in the city, too dangerous. She stays in the guardians cottage – past the city. I know how to get there."

"You'll be needing these Colonel." His voice was stern, but his eyes held only kindness. Carson held out some fresh clothes and John took them gratefully, even managing a smile for the doctor.

"Better to let you go Colonel, than keep you here. I have a feeling that you'd tear up my infirmary if I tried to restrain you again. But I want your word? You find your girl and bring her back here safe and sound, then I want you back in the bed, no arguments... for as long as I tell you to."

"You have my word doc – thank you." He paused, pulling on his pants and looked back up at the doctor. "She's a healer doc... works some magic with herbs and medicinal plants."

"I can tell lad – that ointment she used on your back has already started the healing process. Bring her back here and we'll see about putting her to work in my infirmary. I'm a little short handed these days and could certainly do with the help. A word to the wise though Colonel... don't push me like that again. I know you went through hell – and my job? To put you back together again. My job is hard enough without you making it harder. Get my meaning?"

His voice held no argument and John had the grace to cast his gaze downward, a little ashamed at his actions in hindsight. The right reasons, but the wrong actions. He pulled his glance back up and locked eyes with the doctor. "I'm sorry Carson, really. I couldn't let her down. Wasn't gonna happen."

"You're a good man Colonel. Once in a while you need to let others do their jobs. You need to learn that you don't need to do everything – let the others do what they can, share the load."

"Copy that Carson." He left then. Ronon was waiting with Teyla in the gate room, along with a team of marines. Rodney was not going with them - for these particular rescue missions he was not of much use and Ronon had less than tactfully suggested that he would be of more use in the lab than slowing them down.

Sam appeared at the top of the control room stairs and moved down to see them off. She caught Ronon's eyes and again that flash of awareness sparked between them. Ronon was the first to drop his eyes, but not before he saw Sheppard looking at him with speculation in his eyes. In answer he shrugged, not ready to acknowledge anything himself yet, certainly not ready to talk to anyone about it. John nodded once, then gave him a look that clearly stated that they would be talking about this and soon.

Eighteen hours had passed since John left the planet and it was very early morning the following day and John was thankful that the night had at least passed and they were less likely to have to contend with the fearsome creatures by day. He led them straight to the city, intent of doing a thorough sweep of the area before heading to the buildings of the guardians. As they walked through the city, John filled the others in on the history of what had happened there, as told to him the previous night by Keli.

"I sense it John. The protective circle that these guardians have woven here. It is a force, a truly strong force and while it may be broken and not effective with this creatures anymore, it is still a powerful connection. I can only imagine how powerful it must have been when the circle was complete."

"Powerful enough to repell those creatures Teyla – and likely the wraith. They have never had problems with wraith on this planet, and while Keli assumed it had something to do with the Hoarders, I suspect that it is more likely that the protective circle allowed them the same protection from the wraith. This would certainly be something to investigate further – a shame that there are no living guardians..."

"Are you sure about that John? That energy in the air is strong – the circle may not be complete, but to keep this strength up? It would seem that there is still power coming from somewhere, and there are no others alive, then I would surmise that your Keli is indeed one of these guardians." Teyla was looking into all the buildings as they walked through town, trying to visualise the lives of these people before they were so cruelly taken. Not so different from the cullings on her world.

"She told me she was a healer..." John had placed a hand on Teyla's arm to stop her. "Is it possible that she is one of the guardians? The last of her people and the last of the guardians? How cruel... how incredibly cruel..." Teyla reached a hand up to touch his face lightly.

"She means something to you John – more than just simple acquaintances who have just met. What connection did you form so quickly? She cared for you, yes... but there is more?"

"Yeah Teyla... there is more, but I don't know what it is. Something I definitely need to explore – when we get back. Damn it – I hope she is safe."

He paused at the place where he had been hit by the falling masonry and saw the darkened doorway where he had last seen her disappear. The vault. Telling his team to stand down for a moment, he nodded to Ronon to follow him and together they moved into the building and headed for the dark stairway that led down into the room where Keli had activated the emergency beacon.

A small scraping noise from below had Ronon instantly placing a hand on his weapon, and John bringing up his hand to indicate silence. Again there was a scuffling noise, then silence, broken again by the sound of muffled sobs.

"Keli? Is that you? It's me... John. Colonel John Sheppard."

Silence. The muffled sobs had ceased and they looked at each other in consternation. They had both heard the sound, and it had to be Keli. John indicated that Ronon remain a little behind him and slowly went down the stairs, making as little noise as possible.

"Keli... you can come out now. I didn't leave you... I'm sorry. Something hit me, and I was knocked unconscious – my friends arrived and took me through the stargate. They had no idea you were here and it was several hours before I woke up and could tell anyone about you. I came as soon as I could. Keli?"

He paused again, waiting for some sort of response from her, but there was only silence. John moved quietly to the bottom stair and in the darkness of the vault area, had to wait a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the dark. He could make out benches and a lot of machinery that seemed to be placed somewhat haphazardly around the room, but no sign of Keli. He eased his way around one of the benches, and saw a small figures huddled into the corner of the room against the wall – pushed into a tiny ball. He knew that it was her – saw the fall of long hair that covered her face and saw her legs tucked up tightly close to her chest. He approached her softly and slowly, not wanting to scare her, but needing her to know that he was there and not going to hurt her.

Before he reached her he stopped and crouched down, and sensed that Ronon was close behind him, also stopping, having seen the small figure huddled in the corner.

"Keli... look at me sweetheart. Look at me."

He small face rose from where it had been tucked into her knees and he would see the tears that still glistened in her eyes. His back was aching, as was every other part of his body, but he needed to get her trust back. He took a deep breath and easing himself back to his feet he closed the distance to her corner of the room, and simply sank down onto the ground beside her, wincing as his back made contact with the hard wall.

His shoulder touched hers gently and when she did not shy away from his touch, he reached across with his hand, placed it on the side of her head, and pushed lightly so that it rested on his shoulder. He heard her sigh and looking up he saw that Ronon now stood in front of him.

"Keli? Can you walk? We need to get out of here... we've got the gate working now. Time to take you home – to Atlantis. Can you walk, or do you want Ronon to carry you. I would offer, but at the moment, not much of me is working the way it should, and you would likely be the one that ends up carrying me."

He heard a small laugh escape from her, and encouraged by the sound, he took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it before rising to his feet and pulled her up to hers. He kept pulling until she was in his arms and just held her like that for a short while, Ronon having gotten the hint and headed back up the stairs leaving them a few minutes of privacy.

"I didn't willingly leave you. I need you to know that."

"When I came out and you had gone, I felt my heart had been ripped from my chest. I felt betrayed, as though your words were empty and your emotions weak and small. I had expected more from you, but mostly, I felt betrayed by my own feelings. The ones I had foolishly allowed myself to feel."

"Not foolish, Keli. Never foolish. Not when they are returned."

She looked up an him then, as his heart almost stopped beating in his chest. The blue eyes looked searchingly into his soul and he leaned forward to kiss her. Softly. A promise.


	9. Chapter 9 No Longer Alone

CHAPTER 9 – NO LONGER ALONE

John did not have the strength to move when they stepped through the gate and arrived winded and exhausted in the gate room in Atlantis. He stood just beyond the ring, Keli in his arms. She had not experienced gate travel before. The DHD had been broken since she was a small child and with no way to get the replacement crystals to fix it, the city had become self sufficient and no longer needed the trading alliances of other planets.

John squeezed his eyes shut briefly, opening them again to see Sam walking down the stairs from the control room, flicking glances first at Ronon, then at himself and Keli. Ronon went to leave the gate room, stopping briefly at Sam's side and dropping his head down to say something quietly in her ear. John watched with a little amusement as Sam's eyes widened and a slight blush travelled across her face and thought that the Satedan had finally gotten up the courage to announce his intentions. The ones that John had suspected had been there for some time.

"John. Care to introduce me to your... friend?" Sam's smile was open as was the expression in her blue eyes, and sighing just a little, John carefully moved Keli back from him, turning her so that she could be formally introduced to their base commander. He saw Sam's professional assessment as she immediately scanned the smaller woman and saw her eyes sharpen as she took in the way that he held her.

"I'm sorry that it appeared as if Colonel Sheppard deliberately left you behind. I'm sure he has explained the situation to you already. Our devices had shown us that there were no life signs on the planet and when they found him alone in the city, they did not think to look further. Base policy dictates that you receive a full medical work up to make sure you are bringing no diseases into the city – I apologise in advance for what must seem an intrusion..."

She didn't finish. Keli held out a small hand, taking Sam's hand in it and squeezed it briefly. "Please. There is no need to explain or justify your actions. I am grateful to be here. I am also a medical practitioner and understand the need for medical protocol and am more than comfortable undergoing the required tests. I believe that John still requires medical attention also, so perhaps we should take our leave now and get these matters attended to?"

She pulled away from him, but allowed her hand to rest in his – the only point of contact. He scrubbed a hand down his face, bone achingly tired and sore in every part of his body and thought briefly of his own comfortable bed in his quarters... and her curled up beside him. This thought caused him to squeeze her hand gently, bringing her eyes back to his. He smiled as her eyes widened, knowing that she had read the clear message in there. Perhaps later... he could convince the doctor that his own bed would illicit much more rest and recuperation. Perhaps not...

Carson merely pointed one stern finger toward the bed when they arrived in the infirmary and John felt his shoulders sag. He had promised Carson no arguments when he returned, and a man of his word – he did what the simple action dictated. Got back into bed. He did not sleep though. His eyes were drawn to Carson and Keli. He had immediately taken her under his wing, showing her the array of equipment that the infirmary held and watching her keen eyes as they understood immediately everything that he was telling her. He found her a gown and when she came out from behind the curtain, swimming in a gown that was too big for her and looking for all intents and purposes, like she simply wanted to escape – he couldn't help it. He burst out laughing and watched her blue eyes widen in indignation.

"And just what is so amusing, Colonel John Sheppard?"

"Your face Keli – so transparent. I could write a book on what has travelled across your face in the past half an hour. So tell me... do you think you could live here? Make a home here? As you can see, Carson would be more than happy to take you on as an assistant, someone with your obvious skills would be more than a valuable asset around her."

Clutching the large gown to her small frame, she moved closer to his bed – her hand reaching out automatically to touch his forehead to check for fever. His hand closed over her wrist and pulled her hand down so that it rested against his chest, and he felt it curl against him then flatten again.

"This city is a wondrous place – I think you know that. Full of promise and kindness and I should feel honoured to be asked to reside here."

"Aaah, a little slide around first base, I see..."

"I'm sorry John? That expression is unfamiliar..."

"You are avoiding what I am really asking. But that is ok. You need some time to get settled into the city and it's way of life here. Will you allow me to be the one to show you around? As soon as Carson lets me escape this bed? I was going to try and talk him into letting me go back to my quarters, and perhaps getting you to accompany me... as a medical assistant... but perhaps we need to slow this whole thing down a little. Start at the beginning."

"Beginnings are good John." These simple words, spoken in that soft voice had something not so simple spiralling upwards through his body and brought an instant smile to his face.

_You got her here Sheppard... now you can acknowledge that those feelings you felt for her on her planet are still there, and seem to be very real. Give it time, don't rush in and blow it for one night rolling around in the bed. She needs more, she needs the flowers and the dinner and the hand holding – first. Take it slow and maybe those sneaky feelings that are trying to make themselves known inside you, are the real deal. _

He mentally patted himself on the shoulder, thanked his inner conscious and patted the side of his bed. She sat down cautiously, but he did not touch her and she could look down into his face and imagine what it must be like to wake up to this man every morning. Allowed herself the small luxury of imagining a life with him before she pushed it away to concentrate on the here and now, the mundane and the necessary.

"Come, Keli lass. My tests await... I'll need quite a few samples for testing, but I know that you are familiar with all these processes so won't bore you with too much detail."

She rose from the bed somewhat reluctantly and paused when John's hand reached out to grasp her wrist lightly.

"Will you be here when I wake up? Kinda like that idea..." His eyes had already begun to drift closed and she felt that warmth spread through her as she looked down at his face that already had a sense of peace smoothing out the lines of pain. She waited until his breathing changed indicating that he had fallen alseep before answering him.

"I will be here..."

She missed the look that Carson gave the two of them, having seen the interaction and the expression in the Colonel's eyes when he had followed their movements around the infirmary. He could see immediately where the Colonel's interest lay and knew that he was not a man that had promoted long term relationships in the past . He worried a little for the girl who stood at his bedside looking down at him and hoped that she would not be hurt in the process of becoming involved with this man. As much as he liked and respected the Colonel – relationships and woman were a more casual thing for this man and generally both parties had gone into it with open eyes, so it had worked comfortably on both sides. This woman was different – not just from a different culture, and that was a big enough hurdle to contend with. She would open his eyes, Carson thought with just a hint of affection. She would be the one to show him that two is better than one.

And Carson hoped that the Colonel had the good sense not to blow it.


	10. Chapter 10 Getting to Know You

CHAPTER 10 – GETTING TO KNOW YOU

John was kept incarcerated in the infirmary bed for two days, allowing the wounds on his back to begin healing at an acceptable rate and allowing his head to no longer have stabbing pains go through it whenever he moved. As frustrated as inactivity made him, he had an angel at his bedside – most of the time.

Carson had put her to work immediately. He had given her simple tasks to do in the beginning just to see what level of skill she had. A high level of skill, and he had seen this straight away. She seemed especially interested in research, so he had set her various tasks involving the research into the wraith DNA and looking for a virus that would be the eventual undoing of this race. Carson had spent most of his spare time working on this,but as there were often more pressing demands on his time, it got picked up and put down more often than not and was hard to maintain a flow of work when he was constantly interupted.

Keli became immersed in it immediately and divided her time between cataloging and verifying what the doctor had already done, and making sure that she spent as much time at John's bedside when he was awake, as she was able. She could see that he was getting better. His mood did not improve with his health and this, according to Doctor Beckett, was a natural occurance with the Colonel. He had explained to her, if the Colonel lay unprotesting in the bed, you knew that he was sick. Once he started complaining and becoming a pain in the backside, then it was generally a sign that he was on the mend and almost time to throw him out of there.

Keli had found that especially amusing and after Carson had told her this she had burst out laughing, turning to see the grumpy look on said Colonel's face as he took in their hilarity.

"You guys could at least share the joke... bored patient here..."

Keli moved over to the bed and looked down into his sulky face. "If we shared the joke, it would not be as amusing. The joke, afterall – was about you."

"Ouch... ok, so no pulling any punches I see. Glad to note that I am a source of amusement to you – aim to please..."

She simply laughed at him. "Oh don't be so grumpy. You are ready to leave the infirmary I think – and as your secondary doctor I think I could have a word with Carson and convince him that you are no longer required to remain here."

She watched as his eyes lit up. "You can do that?"

"I can do that John... just give me a moment to plead your case to the doctor. A lesson you need to learn, one that Carson has taught me in the last two days. You catch more things with honey than you do with lemons? I think perhaps, I did not get that quite right.."

He burst out laughing then, all signs of crankiness gone from his face. "Aaah, my little ray of sunshine. Yeah, a little off the mark,but I get the gist of it. Smile at you enough, and I get my own way?"

Her eyes widened. "Put like that Colonel John Sheppard... perhaps I should turn around and leave you to your little tantrum."

He pulled gently on her wrist and softened his eyes. Wasn't hard really when he looked at her. She looked incredible, all cleaned up and attired in borrowed clothes, hair brushed until it shined and most of all – the happiness that shone out of her eyes. Those incredible blue eyes.

"You bust me out of here sweetheart, and we'll go the mess and grab a meal together. That is, if Carson can spare his favourite assistant for an hour or so..."

Carson's voice rumbled out from the other side of the room, having caught the tail end of that conversation. "I'm sure I can spare my favourite assistant for more than an hour – you can have her for the rest of the day Colonel. As to busting you out of there? That would be my pleasure – no doubt you have already worked out that you are most definitely my least favourite patient."

"Yeah, got that Doc – and I'm sorry about that. Hate being stuck in here... although I have to say. The scenery has been greatly improved this time around."

"Enough flirting with my staff Colonel. Just get yourself out of that bed and get dressed. And any signs of that headache returning, I want you back in here for more tests. Got that?"

"Loud and clear Doc – Keli? Give me a minute to get dressed, then let's blow this joint?"

She simply raised her eyebrows to Carson and turned to clear her workstation. But not before Carson saw the look of excitement in her eyes and he huffed a breath. And hoped again that the Colonel did not blow this one.

A pretty woman at his side and suddenly the world seemed a better place. John pondered that one as he strolled through the hallway on the way his quarters. He wanted to shower and change first and he had hesitated in asking her to accompany him, worried about the temptation of having her in his room. But hardened his resolve, and tucking her hand into his elbow, enjoying the way she leaned comfortably against him, he huffed a breath and headed to his room.

Sam had given her quarters of her own so the inside of John's room was not that much different than her own. A little bigger perhaps, given his standing in the city and he did have a balcony. That fact alone caused a small yelp of excitement and John shook his head in resignation – leaving her to go and stand out on his balcony while he grabbed some fresh clothes and went to shower.

When he came out, he fastened his pants, and was in the process of throwing his tshirt on when he stepped out onto the balcony. He had his arms through the sleeves, and paused, taking in the sight that met him. She took his breath away. Standing with her back to him, long hair pulled out softly by the breeze that came off the ocean and her posture suggested that she was comfortable here. Not wary, not nervous – but comfortable. He finished pulling on his shirt and came up behind her – not touching, but breathing in her scent. He didn't speak, but she did.

"You smell... clean..."

He huffed a laugh at that and dropped his head so that his chin rested lightly on the top of her head.

"I don't think my head will turn with that compliment... you're a breath of fresh air Keli, really. Being with you is like looking at everything a little differently. As though it's new and exciting. I didn't realise how jaded I had become, how complacent – as though taking everything for granted. That was wrong. We should never take life for granted."

"No John, we should not. For it can be taken away in the blink of an eye..." Her voice hitched and he cursed himself. Knowing that she was thinking about her family and her people who had all been taken from her. Alone. But no more.

"Then we treasure every moment. Starting from now..." His arms came softly around her and he turned her so that she looked up at him, trusting and with something so refreshing shining out of her eyes that he almost closed his own to remember that look forever.

Her lips invited and he took. Softly at first, then with more pressure and when she responded – he groaned. He couldn't help it. There was sensation everywhere, emotions and feelings and an electric tingling that had him sharply taking in a breath and carefully letting it out again. His hands slid down her body, molding and shaping and taking in every curve and nuance of her body. She sighed against his lips and he felt himself increase that pressure a little more so that it seemed as though they had become fused together.

Reluctantly he pulled back, looking down into her flushed face and lips that looked as though they had been kissed. And hell, they most certainly had. Tipping his forehead against hers, he breathed, trying to get his emotions under control, as well as the tightness in his groin. Now was not the time to rush this and he knew it had been a mistake to bring her here, to his room. Needing distance, he pulled away from her and moved back into his quarters, heading back into the bathroom to run a hand through his hair and stare at himself in the mirror. Looking for something in the lines of his face, that wasn't there before.

He was falling... and falling hard.


	11. Chapter 11 Learning to Let Go

CHAPTER 11 – LEARNING TO LET GO

It was a week of discovering things through the eyes of someone who had seen very little. He learnt that she did not like spicy food, enjoyed Ruus wine and began giggling after just one glass. She watched her first movie and stared spellbound at the screen with no understanding that these were actors playing a part, laughing at comedy that she really had no hope of understanding. They walked a lot, the piers both during the day and at night – John fortunately had some down time due to the fact that he was still recuperating. While they walked, they talked – learning things about each other and in particular, he told her about earth and what it was like to grow up in a world where life on other planets was accepted by only certain people.

Mostly during the days she worked in the infirmary alongside Carson and met up with John in the evenings for dinner, walks and movies – all the normal things that a new couple generally did together. He wondered at the progression of their new relationship. Yes, they shared a closeness that was mutual and he knew she wanted more, saw it in the spark of her eyes whenever he touched her and saw the way her body responded to him whenever he held her. But he was not ready to take it to that next level – still something held him back as though to want something more, would be to jinx it.

At the end of that week John was cleared to go back to work and would begin light training in readiness for their first offworld mission. Keli found him that afternoon in the sparring room with Ronon, and her air of excitement had him cutting the session short and Ronon lifting a shoulder in resignation. Seemed that relationships were the order of the day at the moment – he had managed to find the nerve to ask Sam Carter to accompany him to the festival on the mainland the following week, and when she had accepted, he had felt a moment of panic. Wondering if he did the right thing in pursuing someone like her.

"Hey Kel... what's with the excitement? New discovery with the DNA?" John threw a towel around his neck and stopping to give her a quick kiss he ushered her out of the room and down the hallway.

"Carson has asked me to accompany him offworld tomorrow. My first science mission! Isn't that wonderful – that he is trusting me to assist him this way?"

He looked down at her face flushed with excitement and couldn't push down the trepidation he felt.

"Offworld? So soon? Damn it, Keli – you're not ready for that...I'll talk to Carson."

He watched the puzzled look come into her eyes. "Why would you do that? I want to go offworld to help Carson. He has explained that this particular society have been experiencing symptoms that they have been unable to deal with and require medical assistance from Atlantis. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to show him that I can be asset to him."

He touched her face. "I think he already knows you are an asset – hell Keli, you work harder than anyone I know. Always trying to prove yourself. You don't need to do that. We would have taken you in without the skills you bring to the table. But exposing you to a medical situation that you are not prepared to deal with? Let one of the more experienced personnel accompany him...please."

"John – you cannot feel nerves whenever I do something that you are not comfortable with. You will go off on a mission of your own soon – you will take weapons, and possibly come in contact with individuals who wish to do you harm. You have explained all of this to me, and I understand. It is your job. But that does not mean I will not worry when you go. But I would not stop you."

"That's different Keli – yes, that is my job, what I have been trained to do and brought here to Atlantis to do. You knew who I was and what I was from the beginning. But you? What if something goes wrong, and you need backup? What team are you going in with? I need to know these things before I can consider letting you go."

He saw a flash of something in her eyes that he had not seen before. Not yet. Anger. "Letting me go? The directive has come from my superior, Doctor Carson Beckett. There is no allowing, from your point of view. You do not get to make that decision for me."

She pulled away from him and moved quickly down the hallway and he stayed where he was, staring after her with confusion clearly showing on his face. And a little anger of his own.

_It is my decision, damn it. I'm responsible for her. I brought her here under my protection – how do I trust another to be the one to protect her?_

Having reasoned that in his mind, he strode to Sam's office and knocking once, pushed inside to find Sam engrossed in whatever was flashing across her computer screen. She was muttering to herself and making notes on the paper beside her, and it was with a somewhat distracted look that she raised her eyes and took in his agitated appearance.

"John. And to what do I owe this little visit. You appear... upset about something."

She put down the pen she was holding and gesturing him to the seat on the other side of the desk, she gave him her full attention.

"Upset, yeah – a little. Keli just told me that she's going out on a medical mission tomorrow with Carson – a settlement that is experiencing undiagnosed symptons that has asked Atlantis for help. She's not ready for that Sam. She's only been here a week, just getting into a routine."

She tried unsuccessfully to hide her smile, knowing exactly where this was coming from. "Aaah John. Letting go... harder than it looks, eh? She'll have full back up on this mission – Major Lorne will be accompanying them along with his team and Carson has plenty of off world experience. They need our help John, and we need at least four medical personnel to go and the rest need to remain here in case there are medical emergencies. What's your problem with that?"

"My problem Sam? I don't want her to go. I want her here where I can protect her. Or I go on the mission to ensure her safety. Simple." He pushed himself out of the chair, too agitated to remain seated and the smile she had been fighting to keep down, vanished when she realised that he was serious.

"Can't do it John. I sanctioned this mission – she's not military and not under your jurisdiction. And as for you going? You and your team are earmarked for another mission tomorrow and I can't have you changing your mind at a whim as when and where you go. Plans are in place, and need to be adhered too, unless there are emergencies. And I doubt this qualifies as such."

He saw that he'd pushed her too far and struggled to push down his anger. She softened when she saw the battle he was experiencing.

"I'm guessing that you've got some new feelings struggling in there for supremacy. Don't push too hard John, or you'll push her away. She's no shrinking violet. Took care of herself perfectly well for the past few months, alone on that planet. Trust her enough to let her go, and enjoy the moment when she comes back. The first time will be hard. The next time it will be easier..."

"Sounds easy when you put it that way..."

"It doesn't have to be hard John. You just want to make it seem hard. I'm offering you an easier option. Love is rarely ever rational, and sometimes it takes another to put things in perspective."

He looked sharply at her, stopping at the door on the way out. "Love? Never said anything about love..."

"You didn't need to John. It's flashing like a damn neon sign on your forehead." She smiled to take the sting out the words.

"Damn..." John muttered as he left the office.


	12. Chapter 12 Medical Emergency

CHAPTER 12 – MEDICAL EMERGENCY

There was a definite veil of distrust that appeared to have dropped down after that. She avoided him for the rest of the day, he did not see her at dinner and felt the emptiness of her absence and told himself that he only had himself to blame. He knew that she felt as though he had let her down and that she did not understand his viewpoint or his actions.

Carson caught up with him after dinner. He had seen that Keli was upset when she had come back to the infirmary later that day and when he had tried to find out what had upset her, she had simply ignored him and immersed herself in her work. He had a sneaking suspicion that a certain Colonel had been responsible for her change of mood and decided to have a little chat to said Colonel.

"A word Colonel? In private..." John groaned, knowing exactly what Carson was going to say to him and not sure that he was going to appreciate hearing it right now.

He gave him the courtesy of listening. "It's what she didn't say lad... in case you're wondering. She didn't come running to me with tales out of school. But the look on her face as though someone had let her down badly? That didn't take too much process of deduction."

"I don't know what to tell you Doc. I don't want her to go. I can't pretend that I do. Simple."

"Simple maybe, Colonel. But not to her. She doesn't understand why you can't be happy for her."

"I've just found her. I don't want to lose her."

Carson sighed and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You'll only lose her if you continue to push her away. But I think you know that. And that's what you're trying to deal with. I'll take care of her, as will Major Lorne and his team. You have our word on that."

He didn't see her until the next morning and found her in the gear room getting assistance from Lorne in putting on a tactical vest. He saw the sliver of hope that shot into her eyes when she saw him walk in, and felt like the biggest heel of all time for denying her the feeling of satisfaction she should be getting from this mission.

"I'll do that Major." Lorne looked up when he heard the Colonel's voice, and his eyes flickered from John to Keli and saw something there that had him stepping back quickly and going about his own business.

John took over securing the vest, keeping his head bent slightly to his task so has not to look at her. He could feel her intense eyes resting on his face and he waited until he had finished his task before raising his eyes to meet her ones.

"You're still angry with me..." He said it softly.

"Not angry John, disappointed. I have always tried to show strength and commitment in whatever I do, and you are effectively undermining this – or trying to. I find that hard to understand."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm trying to step back and let you do what you need to do. But give me time to come to terms with it. I won't lie and say I won't worry. But I know that it is important to you and that makes it important to me."

He gave an unecessary pull to one of the tabs, catching her slightly off balance, moving her closer to him. She reached up a hand to touch his face, and he felt himself lean into it, needing some comfort of his own right now.

"I'll be careful and listen to Major Lorne and the other military people. I only want to do my job and have no wish to be a hero."

He chuckled at that. "Implying that this is usually what I wish to be..."

"If this shoe fits Colonel...?"

"You've been around Carson too long. Too many platitudes. Come here... I want to kiss you, just so you know what you have to come back to."

He brushed his lips over hers, deepening it so that she reached up slightly on the tips of her toes and drew her arms around his neck.

"Oh, I know exactly what I have to come back to. I think it is you that needs to be reminded of that. Colonel John Sheppard."

She gave a small smile and left the gear room and headed to the gate room where Carson and the military personnel were gathering with the medical equipment that they would need. It seemed that the symptoms had been escalating and they were walking into a situation that was not clear cut and would need a variety of medical supplies and equipment in order to test blood and other samples for toxicity and disease.

They arrived on P92T34 and they immediately hastened to gather all their equipment and head to the settlement where the outbreak had occurred. The walk from the gate to the settlement was only a matter of ten minutes and it took two trips to get all the equipment from point A to point B and some of it was reasonably heavy and left them hot and a little flustered once they had made the second trip. They were met by the chancellor and two of his councilmen and Keli noted immediately that all three men were wary of them and also showed signs of fear. She understood that if it had not been for the outbreak, this settlement who were obviously resistant to strangers, would not have called on the help or alliance of Atlantis.

She offered her own introductions to the three men and saw their gazes sweep over her in a desultory fashion and found this an unusual reaction. She caught Carson's eye and saw by his expression, that he did not find the reaction unusual, but displeasing. She shrugged her shoulders. She was here to do a job and a good one she would do. To the best of her abilities.

"Ok then Chancellor. I need you to set us up somewhere away from the patients. We need a separate area to enable us to work in a more sterile environment and keep the airborne germs away from the research personnel. Just a precaution, you understand. We will also be wearing basic quarantine equipment until we understand the nature of the contagion. Is that understood?"

The man nodded and that flicker of distaste crossed his face when his gaze ran over Keli. Carson pushed down his own reaction. Chauvinism in any form was abhorrent to him, and he was thankful that Keli did not seem to recognise it as such. It seemed on her world, that this was not a factor she had had to contend with and he would do his best to shelter her from it now. He was mindful of the promise he had made to the Colonel and would not let the man down.

"Come on Keli. I'll start you off collecting samples of all the patients that are so far taking up residence in the infirmary. Blood and genetic sampling from all patients, along with skin scrapings. The contagion appears to manifest as firstly headache, sharp pains behind the eyes, then a severe rash that covers approximately 80% of the body within a short time. I believe from the onset of the headache, the total contagion time is around 6-8 hours. Is that correct chancellor?"

They had reached the infirmary and Carson kept Keli on his right side, away from the chancellor and made sure that all comments were referred back to her, giving the chancellor the firm idea that she was on the same level as he was and was to be shown the same degree of respect.

"Yes Doctor Beckett. That is a correct analysis to date. Our medical practitioner along with his two assistants began to notice the symptoms yesterday. We began with three cases, and at this point we wondered if it was something in the food. There was a small festival here in the settlement last night, a celebration of the first harvest of the season and as such, the same food was eaten by most of the people here. This assumption was compounded when more and more cases became inflicted. We now number 30 people in the infirmary."

"That is indeed a large outbreak chancellor. Leave this is our hands and we will begin our testing. We will not rule out the food as you have suggested and I will have my medical assistants take samples of this. We will also be checking for airborne pathogens as well as spores from nearby plants and animals. I will need a full accounting of where these people have been in the past 24 hours if we are to graph a suitable picture."

"You shall have all that you have requested Doctor, without question. I will leave you to prepare, and once again – thank you. You are doing us a great service and as you may appreciate, asking for assistance is not an easy task for us."

Keli followed Carson to the infirmary and picking up one of the medical bags that contained sample containers and test tubes as well as equipment with which to collect blood and other samples, she began making the rounds of all the patients in the infirmary. Her mask was kept securely in place and she ensured that her hands were gloved at all times. They could not allow any chance that the Lantien personnel would contract whatever this was and take it back to their own city, so full precautions were being taken.

It took Keli an hour to collect all the samples and took them through to the sterile room where two of the assistants had already started feeding data into the equipment. Keli set up her samples with the two microscopes and began running through a series of basic tests, carefully noting and graphing her results to see if a pattern began to form.

Major Lorne and his team had been sent out to the nearby terrain to collect foliage, soil and insects samplings and they came in two hours later with the requested containers. Major Lorne wandered over to where Keli was working and looked over her shoulder at what she now looked at under the microscope. Raising his eyebrows slightly at what he saw, he asked, "any progress Keli? Is anything beginning to stand out yet?"

She sat up a little straighter and taking off her gloves she rubbed her hand over eyes tiredly and rested her elbows on the table, slumping a little. Raising her eyes to his she shook her head. "All the symptoms are exactly the same, that is the only thing we can ascertain at present. I have been unable to locate anything in the food, so we can successfully rule that out. We will begin testing the samples that you and your men have collected, but we still need to check for airborne pathogens. I believe Doctor Beckett is working on that at the moment. It is a long process Major and one we need to be especially thorough in. We cannot risk taking anything back to Atlantis with us, so we cannot leave until we have found the cause of the outbreak. Both for the sake of these people, and the sake of ours."

Major Lorne smiled. "Ours? It seems you have taken us under your wing readily Kelsi... that's nice to hear..."

"As you have taken me under yours...that is also nice." She stood up to stretch, causing the Major to look at her in concern.

"Take a break Keli – no point in pushing yourself so hard that you become ill yourself. What sort of precautions are in place for Lantien personnel who are in contact with the patients. Neither myself or my team have been in there, and I think it best if we keep our distance in case the pathogen is airborne. If personnel go down, we will need to get back to the gate and warn Atlantis."

"I am fine Major, however I appreciate your concern. We are maintaining quarantine protocols and are regularly testing Lantien personnel for the pathogen. Which leads me to my next request..."

"Ok Keli, I get it – time for me to have some blood taken..." he pulled up the sleeve of his shirt and presented his arm to her, looking away as she prepared the necessary needle to extract the blood.

Smiling at his reaction, she asked, "you appear to be nervous of this needle Major Lorne? I understood from John that the military men were without fear. Strong and able to withstand pain?"

"Colonel Sheppard told you that? Well, damn... must have myself a word with your Colonel. Seems he's setting you up for eventual disappointment..."

She finished taking the samples and tapped him gently on the arm to indicate that she had finished. "Oh no Major, I am certainly not disappointed. Far from it. You appear to be very brave. Now, you must excuse me so that I can get back to this work. I would suggest that you and your men take a break and perhaps Doctor Beckett will have further tasks for you to do once the initial testing is complete."

He looked down at her as she bent her head back to the microscope and smiled. Yep, the Colonel had made a good choice there. And she certainly seemed to have the full measure of their first in command.

Two hours later she called Carson urgently into the research room. The doctor was beginning to look tired, just as she was, but some excitement coloured her voice now.

"Carson, I think I might have found something of significance. Look at this. Tell me what you see."

She pushed back a little so that he could look down into the microscope and watched as his shoulders tensed up at the moment that he saw what she wanted him to see.

"By God lass, you're right. Where did you find it?"

"One of the samples that Major Lorne brought back. It's in the water. The people from the settlement are drinking the water and the onset of the symptoms are happening within 6-8 hours of ingestion. Some are not susceptable to it, and I have a theory as to why. All of the people in the infirmary are a certain blood type. A-, that seems to be the connection. I have isolated this specific bacteria in the water and it would appear that it has resulted as a build up of contagions – more than one, that is found in the water storage tanks."

"Excellent work, Keli. I suspect you have a possible solution to ensure that this does not happen again, and a permanent means to keeping their water sterile."

"Of course Doctor, or I would not have shown you my results to date..." Her voice trailed off and she put a shaking hand to her head.

Carson was immediately concerned. "Keli? What is it lass?"

"Nothing Carson... just a headache. I have been staring too long through this microscope, I suspect."

Carson's eye caught the beaker of water that sat beside her. He picked it up and swirled it around. "Keli, did you drink some of this water? We have firm offworld protocols. We bring our own bottled water and do not drink or consume any of the offworld foods until we know they cannot upset our physiology. Did this not get explained to you?"

Keli immediately drew her hand back to her head. "I am sorry Carson, it must have slipped my mind... I was thirsty and one of the medical staff from this planet brought me some water to drink. I did not think... I am sorry."

"Keli...?" Carson was insistent now, and removed her hand from her head, replacing it with one of his own to check for fever. "Your blood type – you are A-, I remember this because we only did a full work up for your medical files the other day. I think lass, you may have contracted the illness."

"This is perhaps true Carson...I must admit to feeling very poorly. Perhaps I shall go and lay down for a short time."

"I think that would be best Keli, and let me continue working in here. You have done a magnificent job of isolating the medium for the spread of the pathogen, and the pathogen itself. Now we must look at a remedy to combat the symptoms that these people are experiencing, before things get out of hand. I will advise the chancellor what they need to do to cleanse the tank water and I will also get Major Lorne to go back to Atlantis and bring back a shipment of water for these people to use until we manage to get their tank water purified. You my lass, go and lie down. I will come in and take samples from you. Ok?"

He saw her pale and sway as she stood and suddenly she was in his arms, limp and unconscious. Major Lorne had seen her fall and rushed in just as Carson caught her.

"Jesus Doc! Is she all right?"

"She's found the contagion Major. It's in the water, and she forgot one of our most important directives..."

"Don't drink any offworld water..." Major Lorne finished for him. "Oh crap. Colonel Sheppard is going to be furious..."

"That's one thing..."

He didn't get to finish. One of the local medical practitioners burst into the room, panic on his face.

"Doctor... the first patient we brought in? He has just died. We need to move fast on that remedy before we lose any more!"

"And that would be the second thing... aah crap, Major Lorne. Here, let me get her settled in the infirmary, and I need you to go back to Atlantis for water supplies. Then I need to get to work on that remedy. Before it's too late."


	13. Chapter 13 Physician Heal Thyself

CHAPTER 13 – PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF

Carson did his best to cope with the fallout. Two more people died and he redoubled his efforts to find the medicine that would counter the effect of the pathogen that had been isolated in the water. Major Lorne went back to Atlantis, leaving behind his team of marines and an hour later there was a flurry of activity as reinforcements from Atlantis arrived. Along with water, lots of water – and one very pissed off Colonel.

"Damn it Carson, this is exactly the reason why I did not want her offworld yet. She does not understand the strict protocols that we have in place to ensure the safety of all offworld personnel. There was not sufficient time to make sure she understood them." He had burst into the infirmary like a small, but extremely destructive hurricane and barely gave Carson time to take a breath before launching his attack.

"Not now Colonel. If you want to say 'I told you so?' Leave it for now. I am up to my eyeballs trying to find some sort of cure for this pathogen. People are dying. In case you did not get that particular memo. I have a job to do and it doesn't include listening to you rant and rave. If you want to make yourself useful, get in there and take care of her. The total mutation time for the pathogen is 24 hours from contraction to possible death. Not everyone is dying, only the extreme cases, and we are attempting to isolate further particles in their blood that is giving them a little more immunity that the others. I hope, hell – I pray, that Keli has that particular immunity for now."

John stood down then. He saw the weariness in the doctor and saw that he was nearly at the end of his patience. His storming in here and demanding answers was not helping, and he scrubbed a hand across his face, cutting off the retort he was about to make. Instead he apologised.

"I'm sorry, Doc. That was uncalled for. I should have made it clearer to her and taken the time to ensure she knew and respected all the protocols. I'll take responsibility. Now, where is she... I'll do what needs to be done. We've got more med staff coming in from Atlantis, as well as a large science team to assist in your research – Sam and Rodney are coming too, right behind me..."

His voice petered out then and he looked through the window to the infirmary ward, his eyes flickering over the lines of patients until he came to rest of the one he searched for. Keli. Pale and unconscious and he felt that sudden shift in his balance as though the planet had tilted slightly and he was no longer in control of his movements. Carson laid a hand on his shoulder, gripping slightly before heading back to his research

Lorne came up behind him and stood looking into the infirmary. "I'm sorry Colonel. If I'd seen her with the water, I would have stopped her. I didn't know... I assumed she knew protocol. Hell, I feel responsible for this. I gave my word I'd protect her, look out for her. It's on me."

John's voice was hard. "You're not to blame Lorne. This one is one me. And Keli. She's paying the price now, and I'll pay the price if anything happens to her. No winners here..."

He left then, moving into the infirmary and went to stand by her bed. The rash had not begun to show yet, but fever had set in and he saw by her movements that her temperature was rising as she became more restless. Determined to help in any way that he could, he took up a cloth and a bowl of cool water – water brought in from Atlantis, and began to gently sponge her face and neck, hoping to cool her down a little. When her agitation began to increase some half an hour later, he pulled up her tshirt and looked down broodingly at her stomach, seeing the onslaught of the red rash begin to manifest. Letting her tshirt drop back into place, he hung his head and simply picked up her unresponsive hand. It seemed that this train was rolling on it's own down the tracks, and engineer or otherwise, the steering had been shot to hell.

Two hours later and an exhausted Carson stood on the other side of the bed with a IV line in his hand. A semblance of hope shot across John's face and he looked into Carson's eyes, trying to see if the answer was there yet.

"Something I want to try Colonel. Keli's going to be my guinea pig – she would want that I think. This was what she had started on before she fell ill. I think she was on the right track, when I picked it up I went in a different direction and got a little lost. I went back to where she had stopped and tried going laterally – think I might have something, hopefully what she had been heading towards herself." He busied himself setting up the drip and attaching it to a catheter in her hand. "She's got a brilliant mind Colonel. Sees the whole picture immediately and without blurred edges. I've got great plans for her Colonel. We'll get her through this, and then I've got all sorts of research I want her to do."

He was more or less talking to himself now. He didn't look at John, just reached over and smoothed down her hair and John realised then, that he was not the only one who had become attached to this woman. There were others who had fallen under her spell as well.

"I trust you Carson. Do what you think is best. I'll wait. Sit here by her bed so that she knows I'm here. And I'll wait."

IV all set up, Carson raised his eyes so that he took in the look on the Colonel's face. "Watch her closely for any changes Colonel. Less agitation, lowering of the fever and keep checking on that rash. The first sign that what I'm pumping into her system is doing any sliver of good, I'll get it started on the others. I don't want to lose any more."

Lorne came up to John an hour later and stood behind the Colonel, taking in the pale features of the woman in the bed.

"Take a break Colonel. Get yourself something to eat and drink. I'll sit with her for a little while. Carson's told me what to look for."

"Can't leave her Major, but thanks for the offer. I need to be here, in case she wakes up. I won't have her waking up alone."

"Copy that Colonel. Thought I'd offer, but didn't expect you to take me up on it. So I came prepared..." With a small smile he held out a steaming cup of coffee and a turkey sandwich and watched as the Colonel's quirked upwards in a slight smile.

"Thanks Lorne." He took a large sip of the coffee and closed his eyes briefly. "Oh yeah, needed that..."

Whe Carson came back an hour later to check the drip, he found the Colonel's head resting on the bed and fiddling with the drip regulator he heard a small sound coming from the woman in the bed. Her eyes opened and they were unfocused and full of pain and Carson took his hand off the drip and moved it to rest on her forehead, feeling that the heat of her skin had begun to settle.

"Carson...?" Her voice was soft and he had to bend to hear her, and John's internal radar must have activated at the sound, causing him to jerk upwards, groaning a little as the crink in his neck received a positive message that he was most definitely in pain.

"Keli lass... I think it's working... your formula that you started. I'm sorry love, I went the wrong way with it, tried to guess where you were going and made the wrong call. But you knew, you had it right. You're the guinea pig... I need to go and get the others started... but firstly?" He smiled, and bent down and kissed her on the cheek. "There. That's done. Now I go back to work." Whistling a little now, he headed back to the research room, his walk a little jauntier and a smile on his face.

She had followed his progress out of the room, a smile on her face and turning back now, saw the man whose face showed all levels of exhaustion.

"John... when did you arrive?"

He smiled. "Oh, about the time Lorne came back to Atlantis and told us you had fallen ill. Things got pretty hectic after that..."

"I am sure they did. I have a confession John. I made a serious error, one that you were trying to warn me about. I drank the water... I am so sorry for letting you down."

Her eyes had filled then and threatened to overflow and he reached down and gathered her into his arms, drip and all. "Instead of negativity, I should have made sure you understood the protocols. When you're better, when we get back to Atlantis? I'll train you. Ok? Doc seems to think you're some sort of medical superstar, so stands to reason that if they want a really good med person offworld, then you'll get the heads up to go. If that happens, and I know it will – I want you ready. And the only way I'll be satisfied with your state of readiness? If I train you myself. Ok?"

"Ok John. Ok." Her eyes closed then, exhaustion having set in and he eased her back onto the bed and got up to see if he could help Carson get the IV's organised for the other patients. For now, Keli needed to rest and allow the medicine to work in her system. And he needed activity. And more coffee. Then, as soon as he was able? He would take her back to Atlantis. Lesson learnt on both sides.


	14. Chapter 14 To Help Instead of Hinder

CHAPTER 14 – TO HELP INSTEAD OF HINDER

It took two days for the now perfected medication to work it's magic on all the patients in the infirmary. One by one Carson and his team noted the improvements, making tiny modifications to the medication to improve it's efficiency. He kept careful notes, and the more he studied the formula, the more he began to understand how Keli's brain worked. She was an exceptional physician, and while her formal training may not have been up the standard that they had come to expect from those trained on earth, with a little assistance, he would mold her into someone who would easily rival any other that came from earth. This gave him serious cause for celebration. His job was an extremely tough one and required skills that sometimes he did not feel he was qualified for – dealing with conditions and research that was beyond the training that he himself had had.

The science team that had arrived from earth showed the people from the planet how they needed to treat the water in future, to ensure that this did not happen again. The bacteria had built up over time to reach a level of toxicity that had caused this reaction in people with a certain blood type. That is itself was a fascination to Carson, and he wanted to continue this form of research back at Atlantis, feeling that it was a situation that they would be presented with again perhaps, in a slightly different medium, on a different planet. Forewarned was most certainly forearmed.

He began gathering up the equipment that they had brought from Atlantis, happy now that the medical team on this planet could now take over fully and nurse the patients back to health. He would return in a week to ensure that all recuperation was going as planned, unless he was called back earlier. He stopped by Keli's bed and found it empty and looking around the room found that she stood at the bedside of a child, who had also been taken sick with the pathogen.

Colonel Sheppard had returned to Atlantis earlier to bring back some more requested supplies for the water treatment and would arrive shortly and Keli was waiting until the last minute before she herself went back. Coming up behind her, Carson stood at her shoulder and looked down at the small child in the bed. She was the only child who had succumbed fortunately, and Carson knew that Keli had felt a certain connection with this child, and as soon as she had been able to get out of bed for short periods, she had spent time at the bedside of this child.

"Keli lass? You all ready to head back when the Colonel arrives?"

Keli turned to look over her shoulder at him, feeling the hand he placed at her back. "I am Carson, but I shall miss this young lady here. We have become friends, her and I. She lost her mother to the illness and her father died some time ago, so she is alone. I have enjoyed our visits and feel more than a little remorse at having to leave her. Would it be possible to come back from time to time and visit with her? To make sure that she is happy?"

Carson felt something move through him then as he looked from the sleeping girl to the look on Keli's face and needed to talk to her.

"Come away with me lass, let's have a little talk." He took her hand and moved away from the bed, toward the window where they could talk privately.

"This will happen often Keli, and I need to warn you about this right now. You will come across many children, many people – whom you cannot help. Not in the way that you would like to. Children without parents, taken by illnesses or circumstances that we are unable to control. If I could bundle them all up and take them back to Atlantis with us? I would, in a heartbeat. And I know that you would too. I sense the compassion in you, and that is what makes you a good doctor. Your compassion. We can't take her with us Keli... I'm sorry."

"I didn't ask that Carson..."

"You didn't need to, love. It was there in your eyes. You have to learn not to form attachments to the people that you treat. That causes all sorts of problems, I'm afraid."

"Colonel Sheppard brought me back to Atlantis... he could have left me behind..."

The voice of the Colonel rumbled behind her, and there was a thread of annoyance in it. "I couldn't have left you behind Keli... and the Doc is right. You cannot become attached to every patient you treat, even the children who have no parents. Sometimes? What we see in this galaxy during our missions, is the very worst of humanity. And sometimes? We want to gather up all the innocents and take them back with us. We can't do that. We can't interfere."

"Why are you angry John? I am trying to understand... I needed your help and you took me back to Atlantis. This child? She has no family left."

John softened his voice at a look from Carson, and moved in close behind Keli so that she could feel his nearness, brushing against her slightly so that there was a hint of electricity connecting them.

"You have no one Keli. There was never any question of leaving you alone on that planet – regardless of any feelings I was developing toward you. And that child? She has a settlement full of adults who will take her in and look after her as one of their own. That is the way of the people here, and in most settlements throughout this galaxy. In your city? If this had occurred, would your people have taken in an orphaned child?"

"Of course we would have John, without question..."

He shrugged his shoulders, and she felt the movement behind her, bringing his body in closer contact with hers.

"Then sweetheart, you have your answer. She will be looked after here, have no doubt about it. Now we need to go, everything is done here and I want you back in Atlantis and I want you resting until you are 100% - then I train you. And when I'm done with you? You'll be a soldier as well as a doctor, able to take care of yourself and when you go offworld, I won't feel like the world is about to implode. Deal?"

She leaned back against him, feeling the comfort he offered, not just with his body, but with his emotions and enjoyed the feeling as his hand rested lightly at her waist and his head dropped to rest against her hair. John caught Carson's eye and he raised an eyebrow, but Carson just smiled. John had managed to diffuse the situation nicely and distract her enough to get her back to Atlantis. Job well done.

Carson insisted on 24 hours rest when she got back to Atlantis and John barely gave her that before he marched into her room early one morning when she had just gotten out of the shower and stood impatiently in the middle, waiting for her to dry her hair and find her shoes.

"Come on woman, times wasting." He made a parady of tapping a foot impatiently and pointing at his watch and even though earth humour was still a little beyond her, she got it quickly enough and giving him a disgruntled sigh, she sat down at the end of her bed and reached for the towel to continue drying her hair.

"John, for goodness sake. It is barely morning and still dark outside. Am I not allowed to eat breakfast before we begin your quest to turn me into a soldier? Surely, several more minutes will not affect your timetable?"

Impatiently he took the towel from her and took over the task of drying her hair. She almost laughed at this action, one that he did often. For some reason that she had been unable to fathom, he seemed fascinated with her hair, or the length of it and often found excuses to either run his hands through it, or take over the task of either drying it or brushing it. It was extremely long – when left unsecured it reached below her bottom and flowed thick with just a hint of wave in it and she knew that this was not a traditional hairstyle for the woman of earth. Most of the Lantien female personnel favoured much much shorter hair.

She let him do it though – it seemed to calm him and seated on the end of the bed with him comfortably leaning slightly against her while it completed the task, to her it seemed a somewhat intimate moment that she chose to enjoy. When he had finished drying it, he automatically took up a brush without asking, and began the long strokes, carefully working through any knots, and she had to fight down another chuckle. Sneaking a sideways look at him she saw that he was completely engrossed in the task, so closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of the rhythmic brushing. When he had finished she felt his fingers on her cheek, turning her face slightly so that she was looking into his warm hazel eyes, no longer so calm. She saw the emotions in there, saw the need and watched as he carefully attempted to push it down. She knew that he was holding back for now, for his own reasons and while she respected them and understood why he chose to do this, those needs were her needs and she felt a moments frustration that he simply did not act on them.

Leaning in towards him she softly pressed her lips against his murmuring, "thank you", then moved off the bed to find her shoes, leaving him sitting looking a little lost on the bed. She hid a smile. It seemed as though they were moving along at different speeds right now, and he had to fight to catch up. She needed to nudge him a little closer to the edge so that he made that leap, and like all women through the universe, this did not seem too hard a task. He was a man afterall.

He began with base protocol, then moved on to offworld protocol. Sitting with her in the conference room, he patiently took her through the required rules and regulations that were the mainstay of all missions, the thing that got them out of each mission alive if they were adhered to. She was a willing student, asking the right questions at the right time, and sometimes he would simply stop in the middle of a sentence just to look into her lovely face, seeing the spark of humour there as though she knew a secret that she had chosen not to share at the moment. He made her repeat everything back to him, constantly – until he was confident that she understood every condition of off world travel. She did this patiently, almost as though child reciting back to a teacher, and again, he found himself just watching her, the way her hair fell thick and long to below her waist, the way it swung whenever she stood up to pace around the room while she attempted to make a point, and the way her sparkling blue eyes held a hint of humour, and some sort of damn secret that had him wondering just what the hell she had festering in that brilliant mind of hers.

They broke for lunch at her insistence, calling him a slave driver and implying that he wanted to work her into the ground. He had laughed at that, but had given in, taking her hand somewhat possessively and leading her to the mess, waiting while she filled up a tray and only managed to consume a small amount of food. He found himself watching her, and suddenly food did not seem like the need that he most wanted to fulfil.

As if she knew this, she smiled to herself. She would wear him down.

The afternoon moved quickly and he changed tactic from the academic to the physical, beginning with weapons training that had her showing a measure of distaste. He chose the beretta handgun for her, small and lethal if used at close range – over the P90, which had a reasonable kick for one who had not had reasonable training with the weapon.

"Your face tells it's own story Keli. You have an aversion to guns?" John assembled the beretta for her, and sighting down the small barrel himself, he lined up the targets on the one the piers that they had set up with various targets so that all personnel could train in the various weapons with ease.

"I understand their necessity John, but I would prefer not to have to use one... is there not another way?"

"Sorry Keli, I need to know you're protected when you go offworld, and I insist that even the scientists have some sort of basic weapons training. We can't take unecessary chances when we step through those gates, and even if marine and security teams are always on hand, there will be the one time that they get taken out for whatever reason, and one of the civilians finds themselves in the difficult position of having to defend themselves. I need to know that they have at least a small chance of doing that. This?" He held up the weapon in this hand. "This evens out the odds a little."

With a grimace she reached out and took the weapon, feeling it's weight in her hands, still warm from his touch. She gripped it the way she had seen him do and brought it up so that she could look down the sight, then unsure what to do from there, she looked at him. He had a small smile on his face, and she frowned at him in return.

"You find this amusing, John?"

"I find you incredibly cute... and with a gun in your hand, oh so sexy..." His voice was low and a little husky and she felt it curl from her toes upwards, bringing a warmth to her stomach. He stepped behind her and brought his body against hers, and bringing his arms around her, he covered her hands on the grip, bringing the gun up a little higher.

His voice in her ear sent small shockwaves through her, and she closed her eyes briefly to block the sensation – or there was no way she was going to be able to fire that gun in a straight line.

"Legs a little wider Keli – your balance is off..."

"That does not surprise me John..."

He had picked up her jolt of awareness and did not pretend to misunderstand. Pressing himself a little closer her gripped the gun tighter and making sure her grip was secure he made her squeeze the trigger. A small yelp issued from her at the noise and she jolted back against him causing all sorts of friction to begin building up and he had to step away from her quickly, thinking that the physical side of the training was perhaps not a good idea. At least, with him as the trainer. But then he thought of another man performing these same tasks and cold hard jealousy boiled up.

_So get on with it John. Finish the training, then for god's sake... take the woman to bed. She won't say no, hell, the way she looked at you before? She wants you as much as you want her. Get it over with, clear the air... before all hell breaks loose and you implode... or something._

He attempted to inject professionalism into his training – letting her take control of the weapon and repeating the firing sequence over and over until she was beginning to actually hit something rather than bullets going randomly out over the ocean. He saw the satisfied smile on her face, in spite of her aversion to the use of the weapon and decided enough was enough. He couldn't take any more, feeling that if he touched her one more time he would simply explode.

Something in her stilled and she turned to look at him. He took the weapon from her and carefully removed the remaining bullets, putting it carefully away. He did not look at her, but she saw the tension in his body, and remained still, waiting. When he dragged his eyes back up to hers, his resolve broke and she saw it immediately. He stepped towards her and she was in his arms and the kiss was hot and demanding, nothing like she had experienced before. He held her back a little, framing her face in his hand, and she saw the longing there and knew that her own face mirrored his.

"I want you..."

She didn't answer... simply smiled, took his hand and started walking back inside. He followed, no choice but to do as she asked and they didn't speak, didn't hurry. When they got to his door, he stopped her briefly and there was a question in his eyes but he got his answer just by looking into hers. Opening the door he made it inside, then all bets were off.

He couldn't move fast enough. Her clothes were gone and when she stood naked in front of him his hands moved over her body as a blind man trying to memorise every curve and every part of her. She sighed and knew that she could not have waited any longer for this man. When his own clothes were gone, her hands touched him, softly at first then with more confidence, finding places that pleased him the most when she touched him, and hearing his pleasure in every sigh and every groan.

When he lay her down on the bed she moved restlessly, and his hand touched her centre softly, deliciously warm and moist and so ready for him. He enjoyed the feel of those soft folds, and smiled at the sounds she made as he gently stroked, feeling her begin to make that climb ready for the freefall. He felt her own small hand, warm and firm – begin to stroke him in kind, and he began his own journey to meet her.

When it became too much he simply wanted to be inside her. Forever. Rolling on top of her he did just that, one thrust and he was where he wanted to be, where she wanted him to be. She gripped his shoulders and felt the friction begin to build as pleasure became so much more and together they reached a place where no one but them could share.

He held her tightly for a long time after that, listening to her even breathing, and feeling the slickness of her skin that smelled deliciously sweet with the scent of a lotion that she had used. Her hand idly stroked down his thigh, and he shivered – thinking that he could lie here forever, with her in his arms.

Then her stroking became more insistent and she heard his small laugh and throaty voice in her ear.

"I can see there's going to me no pleasing you..."

"Oh John, you have no idea. I can be pleased... over and over again."

His laugh grew and so did his arousal and he did just that. Please her over and over again.


	15. Chapter 15 Unto The Child

CHAPTER 15 – UNTO THE CHILD

The city itself seemed to breathe a tangible sigh of relief now that that was at least out of the way. Some of the electricity disappeared from the air around them as needs finally taken care of, they could at least now begin the process of progressing along with a more or less normal relationship. Although the definition of normal out there in the Pegasus galaxy still left much to be written about.

They shared breakfast in the mess the following morning, laughing a little at a story that John was telling and spilling coffee whenever their knees knocked together under the table. Likely because they were sitting so close together. Rodney and Teyla came into the mess, Rodney in his usual state of semi emergency that had his over excitement all but bouncing off the walls, and John rolled his eyes at Keli when he saw him coming.

"Duck, sweetheart. Judging by the look on Rodney's face, a crap storm is about to hit." She laughed a little, not really understanding what he meant, but knew from the tone of John's voice that it was a somewhat derogatory slant at Rodney. She also knew that he was all talk - loved the scientist like a best friend and the two of them enjoyed making fun of each other on every level, both professional and personal and neither seemed to take great offense from what was said by the other.

"Sheppard. Keli. Just the pair we were after. Something I picked up, and ran it past Teyla just to make sure I wasn't miscalculating." At John's raised eyebrow, he turned quickly, went to get himself a cup of coffee then huffing a somewhat impatient breath he pulled out one of the vacant chairs and sat himself down.

"Ok Rodney. Now that you've ruined our peaceful, private moment... spill your discovery. Inspire me. You've got two minutes... then I'm going to ask you very politely to leave so that I can finish enjoying this private moment... privately." His eyes held a teasing light and Teyla smiling down at John at his usual penchant for jest, took a seat also, confident that John would want to hear what Rodney had to say.

"Keli - tell us something. Are you one of the guardians of your city. One of the guardians who could form the protective circle and keep those Hoarders, and possibly, the wraith - from your city?"

Teyla's eyes had sharpened as they focused on Keli and watched as the other woman's face had paled slightly. John shifted sideways in his seat, watching the interplay between Teyla and Keli.

"Hey... what's going on here. This feels a little like an attack. Keli? Teyla? Something I'm missing here?"

"I do not wish to appear as if to accuse or attack, Colonel Sheppard - that is why I suggested to Rodney that I be the one to speak to Keli. I thought I would perhaps be the more diplomatic of us." She smiled further to soften her words and had John raising a grudging smile of his own in agreement.

"We picked up continued energy readings in the city Keli, after Ronon and John had gone back to get you. We didn't mention it to you at the time, but it seems important now. We thought perhaps, that because the readings continued that you may be one of the guardians. The reason we ask now... Rodney has picked up this same energy signature coming from another planet. Exactly the same, and it would appear as if someone, or a group of people - give off the same mind energy that your people were able to do to form that protective circle. It leads one to think that perhaps you are not the last of your people afterall. There could be others of your world who have settled on other planets over the years, and can do the same things that you can."

She softened her gaze now, sensing the distress in the other woman. John sensing it too, reached for her hand that rested on the table, and brought her gaze around to him. "Keli? No one is angry at you here... we don't think that you were deliberately hiding your abilities, we just wanted to give you time to accept that you can confide in us, that you won't be judged for anything that we might consider different or unusual."

"I did not wish this to become knowledge, here in Atlantis. It did not seem relevant as it is not an ability that is of any use here - without another of my kind who can join with me and provide a complete link. I did not wish people from here to look at me as though I was something to be feared or ridiculed. I am also not a fully trained guardian. Do you remember John? I mentioned that when one of the guardians was killed, there was not another to take his place... not one who was fully trained. I am the one who was being trained... after that... I was alone and could not complete the training."

"But you would recognise the same ability in another?" It was Teyla who spoke, sensing Rodney's impatience for her to get to the point. She had specifically told Rodney to let her talk to Keli, and not interfere - knowing that his manner would likely scare the woman into refusing to divulge any information at all.

"I would Teyla, yes. These readings you speak of? Do you wish me to investigate them?"

Rodney opened his mouth to speak, obviously considering this his opening to jump in with both feet and Teyla silenced him with a look. John smothered a laugh, knowing that Teyla had likely given him strict instructions to remain silent.

"If Colonel Sheppard is in agreement, then yes. We would appreciate your assistance in this. Colonel Carter has approved a mission to go to the planet and investigate these readings. Colonel Sheppard, would you like your team to take the lead on this one, or should we request Major Lorne accompany Rodney and myself?"

"Yeah Teyla, I think we'll take the full team on this one, myself included. It sounds interesting, and the first mission for Keli since since the last one which certainly didn't go so well... and training aside, I'd feel a little more comfortable if I was along on this one - even if to make sure that the training sticks! Rodney? You're obviously jumping with excitement over there... when do you want to take off? I need about an hour to organise things from this end."

"This afternoon Sheppard? What? No protests from you, no ridicule...? Are you sure you're feeling all right? You even seem a little... should I even say it? Mellow?"

"Aaah Rodney... a pretty woman at my side, a good cup of coffee in front of me, and if I close my eyes I can pretend that you're not sitting there in front of me like a blight on my landscape... life is pretty damn good..." A huge smile on his face now, John drained the rest of his coffee and went to get up to refill his cup, picking up Keli's to do the same.

"Oh please... I may just throw up..." Rodney's face twisted in a grimace of disgust and he finished his own coffee and stood up to go. "Please put that oh so happy mood back in it's box. I think I prefer the less sacharine sweet version of Colonel Sheppard."

John decided that just his immediate team would be involved with this mission in addition to Keli. They kept it simple, basic weapons only and after having sent through a MALP and attempted to communicate with the people on the planet prior to their arrival, they ascertained that there we definite life signs and the air had definite human viability.

The planet itself was fairly non descript. The stargate was situated in a clearing surrounded by what looked like farmland and crops and there was a non paved road that led away from the gate, indicated that gate travel was likely used for trading purposes. Rodney spent several minutes calibrating his hand held computer with those set up in Atlantis before the worm hole was shut down and once he was happy that the energy signature that he had been picking up was now strongly showing on his own device, he gave Sheppard the nod the shut down the gate.

"It's definitely stronger now that we are on the planet. Keli?" Rodney's head was bent over the device and he was busy trying to establish a direction that the signal came from as well as taking a clear note of the number of life signs he was picking up in the vicinity. He did not see the look that flashed across Keli's face or the way she raised a hand to her head and begin lightly massaging her temples as though a headache had come upon her suddenly. John and Teyla however, did not miss this, and exchanged a look before John moved up beside Keli and leaned in close to her.

"You're picking it up, aren't you? The mind energy? Is it the same?"

She did not reply immediately, and he saw the pain that had dimmed some of the light from her eyes.

"The same.. yes, but also different. It doesn't quite mesh with my own, almost seems as though it is trying to fight it. I need to find the person who sends this energy. It is a controlled thing that we do. It is not random John. If I am picking it up, then whomever is sending it, means to get a message out or establish a link with another. If the circle was closed, as ours was - then no one else would pick up the energy. Only an open, or incomplete circle creates that indirect energy that Rodney's device is able to perceive. This way... incomplete and different... it hurts."

John smoothed the hair back from her face. "We'll find whoever is sending out the signal as quickly as we can. Do you want to go back? To Atlantis? I don't want you taking on more than you can cope with... you need to tell me if it's too much. Ok?"

"It hurts John, but I will cope. I have to cope. I need to make contact with this person, they may be a part of my history and perhaps there are others... like me."

Rodney led them away from the gate, following the well used road which they assumed led into the city and toward the life signs that Rodney's device had detected. Ronon remained vigilant, noting that John seemed a little distracted by Keli and her incapacitation from the energy link. He dropped back behind them, leaving Teyla to take the lead with Rodney, looking out for any sign of trouble. As with Keli's planet, they knew very little about this one also, and Ronon had come to trust his instincts implicitly, as had each of them in John's team and he was not getting a good feeling from this planet. He understood that Keli needed to find out if she had any physical connection to these people, but would have preferred to avoid planets where trading was not, or would not, be established.

"It becomes stronger, Teyla, Rodney. I think whoever is sending the signal is in nearby just up ahead. There is more than one. I pick up two distinct signatures, each one slightly different to the other. Stronger than mine I think, so perhaps fully trained and unable to complete a circle. It is likely that they send out the energy link as a means to communicate with others out there, others of us who have the same ability. Is it possible that there are many other planets, whose inhabitants have this same ability?"

Teyla shifted her glance back to Keli, taking in the pale features. She felt a measure of respect for the other woman. She had under undergone a debilitating illness just recently and to take on this on top of her recovery, showed a strong will and a physical strength that was impressive.

"It is possible Keli, and for your sake, I certainly hope that this is the case. John? You have said little."

"Trying to stay objective here Teyla. I'm with Ronon on this - getting some bad vibes, and don't know why." He looked back at Ronon and their eyes met for a moment, acknowledging the fear that something wasn't sitting quite right on this planet. And silently reinforced their own need to remain vigilant.

The entered the city and when Keli looked suddenly weakened, John indicated that they needed to stop for a few minutes. He placed his arms around her and murmured into her hair. "Sure you can do this? You don't have to... I'll take you back to Atlantis and we'll leave Rodney and Teyla to find the person whose sending out the signal. I can see you're hurting."

She attempted to straighten up, not wanting him to see just how much pain she was in and pushed herself away from him. Meeting Teyla's sympathetic eyes she nodded, indicating that she was fine and that they were to continue.

Several residents of the city came forth to meet them, friendly enough at first greet and both welcoming them to visit as long as they should wish, and to stay and pass the evening meal with them. John met Ronon's eye and nodded once. He had quickly assessed all the people in front of him for weapons and hidden threats but had found none, and Ronon's answering nod reflected the same quick search had been performed on his behalf. Looking back at Keli to begin introductions, John found her focused on a small girl and boy that stood beside a nearby building. They were around seven or eight years old and holding hands, and looking quickly at their features, John surmised that they were likely siblings as the features were similar. Long blonde hair on the girl and short blonde hair on the boy, stunning blue eyes - eyes that reminded him eerily of Keli. He looked back at her, watching her reaction to the two children and found himself quickly tuning out what the spokesperson for the city was saying.

Keli moved away from their group toward the children and John, tossing an apologetic look over his shoulder at the others, moved to follow her.

"Keli? What is it?"

She didn't answer, but approached the children slowly, and they in turn were fully focused on the woman who moved toward them.

His voice was sharper now, needing to penetrate the daze she seemed to be in. "Keli! Wait."

She did stop but did not turn around, simply stood staring at the children. Her hand moved up to push hard against her eyes and he knew that her headache had escalated and knew suddenly, that these children were the cause of that headache. The ones sending out the mind energy. Undecided for a moment, he looked back at the others, trying to convey to Teyla what was happening. She understood immediately and began moving the group further into the city, leaving John and Keli alone with the children. No words, just pain on the face of one, and a calm knowledge on the faces of the children.

"John? I know them. Inside. I know them. And I think they know me..." Her hand moved and reached for his, needing reassurance and he squeezed it lightly, his gaze flicking between Keli and the children. He tugged her hand slightly so that she had to move forward when he did, and stopped when they were in front of the children. He released her hand and squatted down so that he was at eye level with him, and felt her hand rest lightly on his shoulder, still needing the contact with him.

"I'm John... John Sheppard, and this is Keli. We've come from Atlantis - do you know this woman?" He turned his glance back up to Keli and noted that she seemed to be managing the headache easier.

It was the boy who spoke, after flicking a glance at his sister. "We hear her in our mind. We know her inside."

Keli's fingers were digging almost painfully into his shoulder now and she spoke urgently. "John. We need to take them back to Atlantis with us. Have Carson look at them. Tests..."

"Keli, they're just children and they belong here. With their families. We can't just be uprooting all the children we meet on each planet - we had this discussion a few days ago." He turned back to the children, watching as the little girl took her lead from the boy. "Can we speak to your mother and father, your family?"

Again it was the boy who spoke. "They are both dead. We were not born on this planet, but on another, and left when we were smaller. Our mother and father died and we stay here with others who look after us. But we knew we were different, from the people here. We could send signals from our minds, and when we tried to explain to the adults, we were sent away as though we told lies."

"But you spoke the truth..." Keli said this softly. "I believe you. What are you called?"

"I am Mikel and my sister is called Casie. We are a pair, born at the same time and we have lived for 8 cycles."

His voice was without inflection and he spoke as though much older. _A pair_, thought John. _He means twins, they are twins and there are sometimes anomalies with twins. Unusual circumstances and sensory perception that is considered extreme. Is this what the guardians possess perhaps? Is Keli a twin? Or was she a twin?_ The questions crept through his mind and he knew that they would have to somehow find a way to take them back to Atlantis with them, to find out more about the ability that they seemed to possess, along with the matching one within Keli. Perhaps they were related - if they had come from the same planet originally, and it appeared likely that they had - then given their physical similarities and shared genetic anomaly, then it was entirely possible.

He stood up then, holding out a hand to each child and was surprised when they both stepped up and took them. Keli's face had shut down slightly as though she was attempting to process what they had learnt, and was reaching inside herself to find answers that she did not have yet. It was Keli who turned and moved away from them, heading in the direction that the others had gone, leaving John to follow with the children.

They met them in the main area of town, where other townspeople had gathered to welcome the visitors. Rodney seemed a little put out with something, and was poking at his device as though trying to make sense of it's readings. Ronon still looked suspicious - still looked as though something did not sit right with him, and as John still felt that same sense of uneasiness inside himself, he had to wonder just what the hell they were picking up. Teyla was the the only one that seemed at peace here, communicating easily with the townspeople, smiling and offering greetings of her own. John wondered briefly if they were looking for problems that weren't there, simply projecting something they had picked up from the other planet. His other thought that perhaps it was Keli projected the uneasy feelings and John and Ronon were simply picking it up.

The city spokesperson stepped forward when he saw John and Keli joining them with the children. "I see you have met Mikel and Casie. They are without parents, very sad situation and one that we had attempted to remedy. They stay with others, but they are... different from the rest of the people who were born of this planet and sometimes they feel as though they are left on the outside. It is unusual to see them comfortable with strangers - we do a lot of trading with other world's and the children usually make themselves scarce when the traders arrive. They seem comfortable with you."

"We should like to take them with us..." Keli finally spoke, her voice quiet and still holding a hint of the pain that was in her head. "I think they were born of my world, and perhaps I can find out who their family was..." She did not mention that the people of her world were gone, and that she was the last survivor. She too, was beginning to sense something was a little 'off' - as though a circle was attempting to close... but incorrectly and the need to get herself and these children away, became almost overpowering.

"John... please. I need to leave... we need to leave." She stepped forward now and it was the children who turned to her and each took one of her hands, looking up at her with curiousity.

"You feel pain Keli? We can help you. We felt it too... in the beginning. You need to complete your training. But not here... here? There is another." The boy, Mikel - said the words quietly so that only herself and John could hear and she heard John's sharp intake of breathe when he heard this. Dropping his head down toward the boy, he said quietly.

"Another? Like you?"

"Bad. Wanting to do bad things with our abilities. The others, the city people in front of you - they don't know, or they don't want to know. I tried to tell them, but they did not listen. Will you take us with you?"

John hissed out a breath and knew that his spidey senses had been right all along. Something was not right here, and the sooner he got his team and these kids out of dodge, the sooner he and Ronon could knock back that uneasy feeling.

He stood straight, having made the decision and turned to talk to the city spokesperson. He showed very little curiousity as to why they wished to take the children, almost relief John thought, and wondered just who was really pulling the strings in this city. He preferred not to stay and find out.


	16. Chapter 16 Completing The Circle

CHAPTER 16 – COMPLETING THE CIRCLE

The went to leave, but it was Keli who suddenly stilled, turning back to face the direction of the city, her body watchful and aware. John immediately sensed the change in her – he took the children by the hand, releasing them from her grip and attempted to get her attention.

"Keli – we need to leave, now."

"Go, John. Take the children. I'll be right behind you. Go."

Ronon moved back to stand beside her, and Teyla hesitated with Rodney, unsure whether to carry on. Teyla had immediately sensed the undercurrent between John and Keli and something in the city.

"I agree with the Colonel, Keli. We need to go. Something is not right."

"I can't leave just yet, something I need to do. Please, John – Teyla – take the children and get them out of here. I can't explain..."

Ronon gripped her arm, not hard – but with enough force to make her look at him. "You can't stay, we all need to leave here."

She did not answer him but pulled sharply out of his grip and turning, moved quickly back towards the centre of the city, her stride fast and purposeful causing John to curse loudly. He thrust the children toward Teyla and Rodney following with a terse command to get them all back to the stargate and away from here quickly, and exchanging a quick glance with Ronon, they both turned and went after Keli.

By the time they had reached the city square where they had met with the townspeople, it was empty – devoid of all human life. Ronon looked quickly at John, immediately picking up that something was wrong here. What was before a bustling, busy town square was now empty – and in the middle of the afternoon, within minutes of them leaving. Something was most definitely off kilter and they would need to both find Keli, and find whatever was tipping the scales in the opposite direction.

"Keli? Damn it Keli, answer me! I am feeling just a little bit pissed at the moment, so now is not a good time to choose to ignore me..."

"Sheppard? Over there. Movement in that building – it looked like Keli." Ronon turned and didn't wait to see if John was following. He moved quickly into the doorway and found the door open and caught the faint scent of something familiar. Keli's body lotion. He had noticed that she wore a distinctive scent and John had commented on it the other day so the smell had remained with him. Now it lingered in the air, a remnant from the woman who had recently passed through, for some reason on a quest of her own.

Ronon moved with stealth, but John – his temper now well and truly on the rise, burst into the room with all the finese of a small child. Ronon held a cautionary finger to his lips and John had to struggle to heed his warning. Anger made him want to throw something, not tread lightly and he had to take several calming breathes before he could acknowledge and heed the warning that Ronon gave.

Ronon pointed ahead. The room held little natural light, but John could see that a doorway led out the back to a small courtyard and he could clearly see a man and a woman out there, arguing. The woman was Keli, and the man was not familiar to them.

John moved in close behind Ronon, and rather than rushing out as was his instinct, he held back, intent on trying to ascertain what the pair were arguing about.

They only heard snippets of the argument. Keli was expressive in her apparent anger. Her hands gestured theatrically and she tossed her head to make a point. They could see the man's face clearly. He was much older than her, largely built and had disturbing pale blue eyes that stared at her as she argued with him. His posture had remained still until suddenly he grabbed her arm sharply and obviously hard enough to hurt as she cried out and attempted to pull herself out of his grip. The man held on and twisted cruelly and John was already moving through the room and out of the doorway, coming in fast on the pair.

Ronon close behind, saw the expression on the man's face as he saw John coming in for the attack. He did not let Keli go, simply gripped her harder and began to drag her backwards – towards the open door of another building that led off the same courtyard.

John, now in Keli's line of vision, tried to reach out for her. She saw him, and began to cry, telling him urgently to leave her, and get out – now.

"John... I can't come with you. The children will be safe if I stay here... with him. Please. I don't think there is another way."

"You're wrong about that. There's always another way. Don't give me ultimatums, damn it." He pulled out his weapon and barely took the time to aim. His ability to hit any moving target at close range was impecable and at further range, well - that took a little more work. But he had an added incentive. This man was attempting to take his woman, and nothing would make his aim truer.

The man took a hit in the chest, missing Keli by mere inches. She screamed and felt the blood of his wound immediately begin to seep into her. He did not go down immediately, merely took a breath, gripped her harder – so hard in fact that she felt as though the bones of her arm were beginning to grind together.

Ronon had brought his energy weapon up, and looked for an opening. He had seen the hit that the man had taken and could not understand why that had not immediately taken him down. It bled profusely, much of the blood now on Keli, still the man continued forward, through the other doorway and into the building beyond.

"Damn it Ronon. Why the hell doesn't he go down. What the hell is he?"

John surged forward, not content to sit back and watch Keli disappear with that madman. Ronon was faster and he came in hard behind the man and found an opening – taking one shot at his leg to attempt to take him down. The man faltered, seemed to take the hit and continue, then his body finally seemed to give up. Collapsing now, he took Keli down with him, partially landing on her awkwardly so that her arm, still gripped by his hand, was trapped underneath her and they heard a sickening snap as bone was broken.

Ronon took no chances. He fired his weapon twice more into the man, each hit making Keli scream and John to drop down to his knees beside her and try to remove her from under the man. She was almost hysterical and tried to push him away with her good arm, the smell of the blood strong and pungent in the air of the building.

"Keli... calm down. It's over. I've got you now." He tried to get her to stop moving, to get the trapped arm out from under the man and it took Ronon two tries to roll him over, ascertain that he was dead and get Keli's trapped arm out from under him.

It was Ronon who gently removed her, got her standing up and pushed her into John's arms. He then dropped back to the ground to search through the man's pockets, looking for some clue as to what and who he was. Someone who wanted Keli and someone who had connection to the children. The circle. Ronon suspected, as John did – that this was all to do with completing the circle.

John allowed Keli to calm a little, held her lightly in his arms, mindful of the broken arm – not wanting to touch it or attempt to do anything with it. He suspected that it was an especially bad break, and while she would be in shock now, once that wore off the pain would be right on the blindside. And it would hurt like hell.

Gently he asked. "Who was he Keli?"

Her sobs eased a little and he waited for her to answer, not intending to leave this area and leave the man, until they knew exactly what he was. And if there was another.

"He came to my planet a long time ago, when I was very small – about the same age as the children, Mikel and Casie. He wanted to take me away – said that I was to be trained as a guardian, but not on my world. A different world. With different rules. I knew then, as I know now. He was bad – the guardians that he trained? They did not protect. They destroyed. They were the bad to the good. He came to take me away to train me in this manner and my parents, they hid me... he was angry, but he had no choice but to leave... I remember his face. I hid in the cellar and watched him through a crack in the floor. He terrified me, and I sensed him here... that same fear. He took the children I think, from my planet. When they were small... but he made them believe that their mother and father died. He was training them..."

John gently stroked her back. "That's why you sensed that the mind energy was different... and we sensed that something was wrong. Gotta trust those spidey senses Ronon..."

"Why did you go with him Keli? I don't understand." John exchanged a look with Ronon – there were loose ends he needed to have tied up and that was one of them.

"He would hunt us down otherwise. He only needed to train one – and my training is not complete. I knew that he would take me in exchange for the children... I wanted to give them a chance and I knew that you would find a way to fight him – maybe not this time, but I knew you would come back. But I had to give the children a chance to leave. If I hadn't stayed, he would not have let them leave."

"He needs to complete the circle? What will happen?"

"Yes, he needs one fully trained guardian to complete the circle. Another thing I need to tell you... he took my sister... while I hid in the cellar. It was my sister that he took. My pair. She died, I felt it when she did, as all pairs do..." She began crying, and slid down unable to support herself and John simply picked her up and sparing only one more glance at the dead man on the ground.

It was Ronon who felt the sickening pain that she must have gone through and Ronon who laid a hand tenderly against her head to push back her hair. And it was Ronon who vowed that her sister's death would not be in vain, allowing two young children a new life in their city and allowing the circle that had remained open for far too long, to finally close.


	17. Chapter 17 A Bond is Formed

CHAPTER 17 – A BOND IS FORMED

John took her straight to the infirmary upon their return. He had been right. Once the shock had begun to wear off, extreme pain had set in and her features were pale and drawn. She needed the arm set and pain medication. Urgently.

Carson took one look at the arm and gave John a hard look. "No doubt you'll fill me in very soon about how this happened? For now lass, let's get that xrayed and set – after we're given you a good dose of painkiller."

The misery on her face had him moving just a little faster and he was unable to stop his eyes from flicking over the amount of blood that had begun to harden and set on her clothes. "Are you sure there are no other injuries that I should be looking at?"

John's eyes had followed his and had seen the blood also. "Not her blood doc... oh, another long story. It seems we ran into an old acquaintance from her world, from her past. One who took something from her – but we evened the scales on that one. But some things never sit right again, and I'm not just referring to a broken arm."

"I didn't think you were, son... the children John? I had the chance to check them over medically... and they are in fine health. No doubt they're a part of this long story and I shall look forward to the unabridged version. For now, we'll just get this wee lass fixed up before she passes out. There, love... that should take the edge off the pain..." He completed injecting her with something and watched her eyes carefully. He had given her morphine, needing something that would work more or less immediately as he could see that she was almost at the end of her ability to cope.

And it did. John too, saw the fading in her eyes as lucity lost it's control in her body and she simply began to float. He propped her up and moved her over to the xray machine and sat with her while Carson set the arm in a cast, then finally allowed John to settle her in a bed, preferring to keep her in the infirmary with that amount of medication in her system.

It was Sam who brought the children in an hour later. They held hands and John was once again more than just a little surprised at the resemblence to Keli. The eyes, the extreme blue – and he wondered if they were from her family, or perhaps it was a genetic predisposition for the people from her planet.

"Ah John... I thought I would bring these little ones for a visit. They have both been impatient to see the woman who shares their mind energy. I can't pretend to understand what went on, and I suspect there are a few chapters of the story missing, but I can't wait to get the report! I'm sure, as always, it will make scintillating reading."

"Aahhh sarcasm, Sam? Not like you. A subtle hint that my mission reports are sadly not up to date? So, Mikel, Casie – have you have the grand tour of the city yet?"

He crouched down so that he could be at eye level with the children and watched as some unseen communication passed between them. Mind energy or simple twin communication? He didn't know, but what he did know was that the tangible energy that the mind link seemed to possess was not present in the room and wondered if that had something to do with the circle now being complete – or almost complete. By Keli's admission, she had not completed her training and would be unable to close the circle. A few pieces to finish off this particular jigsaw, he surmised.

"The man, John Sheppard. He is dead, yes?"

Mikel spoke in that serious tone and a part of John groaned, wondering if this small boy had ever had the time to be a child. He had been forced into the training of an adult and he mentally calculated how long it would take him to go back to his quarters and grab a football – head down to one of the piers and teach the kid how to toss a ball. Simple pleasures.

Sighing, he replied. "Yes Mikel, he is dead and can't hurt you anymore. We need you to tell us exactly who he was and the sort of things that he made you do. I know it will be uncomfortable to have to remember this, but in order for us to piece together what happened, we need your help."

"Do not feel sadness for us John Sheppard. We were not hurt in any way. The training is not painful."

Shifting his position slightly, John ran a hand over his face. "Tell me Mikel? What did that man want your mind energy for? Do you know?"

Mikel appeared to consider his words before answered, and again John was struck by the maturity of the boy. Far older than his eight years. Probably never a child.

"He said that it would give him complete power. A circle, once complete can do many things. It can protect, as it did on our planet where we were born. Or it can destroy. It is energy, power. He wanted to destroy soldiers from another planet who had been to trade and taken goods without payment. They would often come and take what they wanted by force. Our city leaders did not agree with his methods and had told him not to do this, but he continued his training in secret, choosing not to tell them of his plans. I think perhaps they knew anyway and chose not to acknowledge it."

"So bad, yes – but perhaps for the right reasons? Protection of your planet?"

"No John Sheppard. He wanted to start his own army. Once he had completed the circle, he would be unstoppable and he had become full of greed. It may have started as simple protection, but it became more."

"Of course it did. The simple curse of all mankind. Greed." He rose to his feet, locking eyes with Sam.

"You know Sam, that another circle has been formed – here in Atlantis, don't you?"

Sam's eyes had sharpened. "Mikel told me a little something along those lines. I thought that Keli was not a trained guardian?"

"I think her arrival on that planet, and the act of destroying that man – completed her training essentially. I think their circle is complete..." He looked down at the children and watched as they communicated to each other without words, and looking over at the bed he saw that Keli was awake and watching them, and following the children's conversation.

"We can use it to our advantage John. It is a protective circle for all intents and purposes. And it was a large part in deflecting the wraith. Herein lies our weapon. We can see what their combined strength is and use it for good."

"Our own personal shield against the wraith..." John muttered.

"Perhaps John, but perhaps there are others of their kind out there. If we could harness all that energy, Rodney may be able to come up with some sort of device that can replicate what they do and we will have our secret weapon. We've been waiting to find something that gives us the power to have the upper hand out here in this galaxy."

"Does that not make us the same as what that man did to them? Are we not just using them also?" It didn't sit right with John. He huffed a breath and looked again at the woman in the bed and he could see that in spite of the powerful drug in her system, she knew exactly what they were talking about.

"No John – not the same. He was about the wrong sort of power. Ours will be about balancing the scales. You can't compare..." Sam was adamant and she looked down again at the children. "The destiny of these children -Keli, and others like her? It was to complete a circle and act as guardian for their planet. This is exactly what we are proposing, but we are simply going to find a way to harness what they do naturally. For the benefit of all throughout the galaxy. Not for personal reasons, greed or otherwise."

Sam and John stood together and watched as the children approached Keli in the bed, and sat cautiously at first as though waiting to see her reaction, then more confidently. John's gaze was pensive, assessing – wondering at the changes that would come to pass now that they were here and watched as the children edged closer still to the woman in the bed, now carefully sitting beside her so as not to jostle her arm and noted also that Keli had placed her good arm around the shoulders of the girl. He sighed, and hoped that someone was not going to get hurt.

When he saw that the morphine necessitated sleep, he gently removed the children and left them in Sam's capable hands and noticed with a smirk, that Ronon offered very quickly to give her a hand. They were to take them down to Rodney and as soon as Keli was cleared to leave the infirmary, she was going to spend time working with both Rodney and the children, to try and establish a tangible energy signature that Rodney could work with and try to amalgamate into a device - thereby replicating the qualities that their mind energy produced. Sam had been a little skeptical that it could be done, but Rodney with the ego or two men, had decreed that until he said otherwise, then it could be done.

Sam had been quick to notice the bond that had begun to form between the twins and Keli and wondering whether there was a family relationship,she had questioned John about it, but he seemed not to know, or was reluctant to say. She wasn't sure which, but he had said that he didn't feel comfortable pressing Keli on the matter when they had already pushed hard enough. For a woman who had already been through so much in less than a year, it seemed an intrusion into her privacy to expect more from her. John had discussed it briefly with both Carson and Sam, needed advice on how best to treat this one, and they had both been of a like mind. Step back a little and let her breathe. Don't push too much on her or she'll turn tail and run. Primarily, give her time to adjust to the fact that there were others, children - and with them, she now possessed the ability to complete the mind circle and form a protective barrier.

He didn't look at her any differently - hell, how could he? She was still the same innocent woman who had slain a dragon for him. An oxymoron perhaps, but an apt one. She did not consider her gifts as such, was humble to the point that John wanted to give her a gentle shake sometimes and tell her step up and take a bow. Her medical skills were exceptional, by Carson's own admission and she now possessed another skill that would more than bring a new level of excitement to the city. If they could get it to work. And if they couldn't? Well, he had her... and that as far as he was concerned, was a damn side lot more than he had a month ago.

He had returned to the infirmary a little while later, needed to talk to her and found her awake but noticed how her eyes had appeared pensive and just a little shadowed.

"You've taken a hell of a hit... and I don't just mean physically. I look at you and wonder just what the hell must be going through your mind right now..." Gently he sat down on the bed and stroked her hair, lifting it slightly and playing with it and she could not resist the small smile that came to her face. He didn't appear to even know he was doing it and when she tugged on her hair to make him aware, he looked a little discomforted as though caught doing something inappropriate.

"That is a curious statement John - I too, have wondered the same thing. I look at you and wonder what must be going through your mind - about me? Do you find me strange... and too different? On my planet, it was a gift and we were treated as such. But we were also warned that if we were ever to go offworld, these gifts needed to be hidden or others would try to exploit them or ridicule them." She watched as his hand continued to play with the strands and decided that it must comfort him somehow.

"The only thing I see when I look at you is your bravery and your intelligence - nothing strange and nothing different. Tell me about the twins... your sister? Why is it that only twins have the ability? I know on earth, often twins are considered to be able to talk to each other with a special language that only the other can understand. Is it something similar?"

"I don't know of your twins... pairs? Yes, we communicate without words mostly - I imagine that is what the mind link is, if you need to put it into technical terms. I reach out and touch another with the same energy and the energy becomes linked, whole. It feels like an electrical current, but one that suddenly becomes fused. It is difficult to explain."

He took her hand, the one not in a cast and tugged gently, so that she moved her legs over the side of the bed and he supported her until she got her balance. "Come on... show me?"

"Now?" She looked at him with a little amusement, thinking that he was almost like a little boy sometimes. A new toy to play with and that need to play with it now.

"Carson said you can leave now. We can go to see Rodney, bring the three of you together under controlled circumstances. See what happens."

"You wish to see whether I will explode or not?" He voice held a bit of teasing and he had the grace to drop his eyes a little.

"Sorry, I know I must seem a little... keen..."

"Just a little John, and I have to admit that I am not altogether sure why..." She looked at him curiously. He had seemed reluctant originally, as though it was mistreatment of the children. Now? She could not help but detect the obvious excitement in his eyes, as though he had taken the time to process what all this would mean, and was embracing it. Or perhaps he had been speaking to Sam and a decision had been made that she had been kept out of the loop of. A little bit of unease began to spread inside her and she hoped that this would not cause distrust between the two factions.

"You may be our little secret weapon. You may be what we need to fight the wraith." He let the excitement flicker in his eyes and she was drawn to the energy there and tried to feel the same enthusiasm that he did. She was reluctant to expose the children to the testing that the Lantients would need to do, even though it had been her suggestion originally. At first, she had simply wanted to get them away from the city, away from the man who had taken them. She saw the Lantien's as the only way out for them, as it had been for her when John had arrived on her planet. Now? She wondered if she made the right decision to allow them to be tested upon, allowed the three of them to be merged together by people who did not have the understanding of what they did.

John sensed her reluctance and pushed down his own irritation at this. It seemed their roles had been reversed. He, originally - had been reluctant and now saw the need and the sense in allowing this seemingly natural progression of abilities to be explored and tapped into. As long as no one was exploited or hurt, then great care could be taken to ensure that as much protocol as possible was followed. Keli would be the one to enable this to happen, to enable protocol to be followed.

She pulled away from him and left the infirmary, heading down toward the laboratories where the children had been taken. And as she moved further away from the infirmary, she had the sickening feeling that things had begun to spiral out of control in both her life and the lives of the children and that she was the one responsible for the downward spiral.

Rodney had seated Mikel and Casie at one of the benches and stood back for a few minutes just watching them. He was fascinated with the expressions that crossed their faces and assumed that they were communicating amongst themselves. He had asked Carson to provide electromagnetic hookups so that suitable readings could be taken and it was Sam's idea to try and incorporate it into some sort of game for the children, so that it did not become either a chore or a feared activity for them.

This was the challenge she had set for Rodney. Attach a series of coloured lights to the panels that displayed the results of the electromagnetic printouts, make the children try and design colour patterns using their minds, and this would enable Rodney and Sam to analyse the data that was displayed. Sam looked up as Keli walked in and noted the way she carried her arm. The morphine had begun to wear off and the pain had begun to set in and throwing a look behind Keli to John, who was following her in, Sam raised her eyebrows as though to questions why she was even down here so soon.

Keli immediately assessed what Rodney and Sam were attempting to do, and felt a little relief. She had spoken briefly with the children about the testing they had undergone on the planet they had just come from, and this was what she particularly wanted to avoid. This seemed like fun, and she carefully watched their faces to see some of the spark of childhood that hid just out of sight, make small appearances. Sam had come up beside her and gently touched her on the shoulder.

"You thought we would try to do to them what the other man did?" Her eyes were kind and it seemed to Keli that she understood immediately her concerns.

"I am sorry to doubt you Colonel Carter. That was not my intention. I simply feel responsible for them, for them being here. I did not wish to subject them to more of what they had already undergone."

"Something you need to understand about us Keli. We are human, in every sense of the word. We have the compassion, the love of family and we treat our children with kindness, not anger or regale them with fear. We want to learn from them, yes. But we also wish to help them and give them a home here. That will include fun activities also - as soon as we have spent some time with them here in lab, Ronon and I are going to take them over to the mainland to fish. Just for fun..." Sam smiled and watched as the wariness slowly edged out of the other woman's eyes and looked quizzically at John who stood back further, as though to ask why he had not been the one to put her fears at rest.

Keli took a deep breath and felt John at her shoulder, not touching but close enough that she could clearly sense his nearness.

"Fishing Keli? Sounds...fun. Shall we join them?" He began toying with her hair again and leaned back against him unsure why she felt the urge to touch him and be touched by him.

Smiling down at her, he slid a hand around her waist, feeling that same need.

"Fishing it is then..."


	18. Chapter 18 A Family

CHAPTER 18 – A FAMILY

It began with fishing. That was just the first step. The sound of childish laughter, the flash of happy smiles and the woops of joy as a large fish was caught after struggling with line and pole to reel it in. She stood apart a little, and took it in. Watching as Sam and Ronon began tiptoeing around a burgeoning friendship that would lead soon into something more. It was there in the way that they snuck looks at one another and the quick smiles they shared whenever they caught each other's eye. Watching the way John interacted with the twins, the confident way he could bring himself down to their level – so easy when sometimes he seemed not much more than a child himself. In certain things.

She imagined that this was what one big family was like. It had seemed so long since she had spent time with a group of people that it was almost painful to watch the interaction that seemed to mesh so perfectly. This is what she had missed when her family were killed, taken by the Hoarders. This feeling of being a part of something, of having people look up to you as though your opinion and your feelings were important.

John paused mid cast, catching her staring at him with an undefinable expression on her face. He kept his gaze on hers for a short time, before angling it back to his task and when he had the line secure, he passed the rod the Ronon and walked the short distance to where she stood.

"Your face is still telling your story Keli. I can see so much on it, but there is still a lot you keep hidden. You distrust your happiness? Contentment? Is is because you think you don't deserve it, because the rest of your family are not here to enjoy it? It's not disloyalty. They'd want you to be happy, you know that. And us? We're your family now. That's the thing about us... we are family, take all and sundry under our wing – those who need sanctuary and those who need love, and those who need understanding. Some – like yourself? Need all of that."

She touched a hand to his face, smiling at the honesty she saw there. "You make me so happy! And yes, I do feel a little guilt. I wish my family could be here with me. I wish they could know you. I look at Mikel and Casie..."

"They are your family..." he said it without accusation, as though stating a fact.

"Yes... I feel the ties that bind us and know that they must be family. But I give you my word John...we have not met before. I would not attempt to hide this fact from you."

"How long ago were they taken, Keli?"

"They were very young, according to the children... but I have no memory of them being taken. It seems as though there is a hole, a gap in my memory – and I think it may have something to do with the time that circle became broken. It also served to take away some of the important memories, leaving gaps that were later filled with other knowledge. Perhaps one day, I will learn their true connection to me, to my family."

"For now Keli? You can give them a home and a family – we can give them that. Together."

"Together... it has a nice sound I think – Colonel John Sheppard."

They heard a cry of happiness and saw Mikel pulling up a huge fish that he had managed to reel in all by himself, and looking at the laughter that played across Ronon's features, it seemed that the children had woven their special magic on more than just one person.

Sam thought of it as Peter Pan syndrome. A city that had always been serious, lives on the line, hanging in the balance – always looking around the corner for the next enemy. Distrust and subterfuge. The children changed all of that in a heartbeat. The Peter Pan syndrome. Bringing out the inner child of all they came in contact with, especially those who had forgotten what it was like to simply have fun.

Sam watched as a special sort of magic crept over the city – from the most hardened military man to the least paternal man of them all – Rodney. Even he appeared to have fallen under the spell that the children wove. His eyes lit up whenever it was time for them to work with him in the laboratory and he endeavoured to make all of the testing as much fun as he was able and soon he had almost completed the development of a device that would simulate the mind energy that the three of them created.

Keli enjoyed her work with them and with Rodney and took pride in seeing the research begin to produce a workable fruit that could soon be used.

A wraith protection device. One that could allow them complete protection and could also allow other worlds through this galaxy, the chance for peace. She was standing behind Rodney's shoulder looking down at the device that now rested somewhat innocuously on the table. Considering it's potential power, it was not large. Somehow she had expected... more.

"You seem disappointed Keli...?" Rodney's eyes held a hint of teasing as though he knew the direction her thoughts had taken.

"For something that can mean so much to so many – by your own admission, then yes. I suppose I am a little disappointed."

Laughter rumbled from the doorway and Keli turned, easy laughter of her own already on her lips at this sound of his voice.

"Haven't I taught you anything yet? Size most definitely does not matter..."

She was beginning to understand his humour now. Having been in Atlantis for a month and spent more time than not with this man, she was certainly a part of his life. Moving into his quarters had been the start and now? Whenever she looked at him she saw a future with this man, something she had not allowed herself just a short time ago. She watched as his eyes showed everything he felt for her and waited as he crossed the room to drop a tender kiss on her mouth.

_Family..._ she thought. _I do have family again. John was right. I am surrounded by people who accept and love me for who I am, not what I can do. They do not view me with distrust, nor with suspicion, nor do they look at me as someone who can bring them a possible solution for the war that has raged throughout this galaxy for longer than anyone can remember. They just see... me. And Mikel and Casie? They have found more than just comfort here... they too, have found a family._

Keli laughed as she looked up into the Colonel's tired eyes. "It looks as though you did not get sufficient sleep last night, John."

He buried his face in her hair, laughing also and growled his reply. "You know damn well I didn't... insatiable wench."

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Oh please... can we take the mutual admiration society outside. I'm starting to feel just a tad nauseous."

Keli laughed and removing herself from John's embrace, she put her arms around Rodney and kissed him on the cheek, causing a blush, not so becoming on him, to creep up over his neck.

"Don't pretend that there is no romance inside of you Doctor Rodney McKay and I have met a wonderful scientist who is most interested in getting to know you a little better. She is a tiny bit intimidated by you, but I assured her that you were only a man, and nothing more and as such, had the same needs as any other man."

"You told her what?" Rodney squeaked, pulling himself away from her and turning so that he could see the mischief in her eyes.

"Have no fear Rodney. She will be meeting you for dinner this coming night. She will come to your quarters when she is ready and you will show her a nice evening. That is not so difficult, is it?"

"But...?" He could not find the appropriate response. And found that he really had none. When she wanted to get something done, she simply did it. Refreshing and strong willed and John just shook his head at Rodney, more or less telling him not to bother. It was a done deal and he'd best just pull his head out of the sand and enjoy the night. And muttering just a little, he gave his attention back to the device, hoping that the troublesome matchmaker would leave him alone with his thoughts.

John shot a question at him before they left, more than just a hint of query in his voice. "I'm getting some pressure on this McKay – how long until testing?" He nodded at the device and Rodney looked back at him assessingly.

"Any day Sheppard. Name your place, name your time and I'll make it happen. Got any idea where you want to try this out? The nearest hive ship is some distance away, and I'd rather not go straight for the heart. Maybe we could test it out on something smaller... say a foot?"

Joh huffed out a laugh. "Well that narrows it down somewhat. A foot? Are you serious? We're talking a very small wraith faction... and where the hell do we find that?"

"Let them come to us?"

"Foot Rodney? You seriously need some anatomy lessons... If we sent out that sort of signal, we'll get more than just a hive ship, we'll get the whole damn race. Atlantis is their holy grail. Let them find us and think we're ready for the taking, every damn wraith in this galaxy will come calling. And if this thing doesn't work...?"

"If this thing doesn't work Sheppard... we have backup. That's what I'm saying..." He flicked his eyes at Keli and watched as understanding dawned in John's.

"Oh... OK.. Point taken. We know that the three of them together will form the necessary protection, if the device fails. Rodney? You amaze me. Sometimes it scares me just how your brain works. And I should have thought of that one..."

"Yeah, Sheppard. You should have. I think too much of a good thing... it's turning your brain to jello."

"Love you too Rodney. Keli? If we were to get this show on the road so to speak, can you and the twins act as backup? I don't want to presume... unlike Rodney here... Will you be strong enough, the three of you? I know your training is more or less complete, but if ever we needed the full circle, then this would be the time – if we invite the wraith to our door."

"I understand John, and I will make sure we are ready. I will work with them a little more and we will make sure that we do not let you down. We can at least attempt to repay you for the hospitality that the city has shown us."

"There is no repayment Keli – it's not about that. We just need to finish this war... we need peace in this galaxy so that children like Mikel and Casie can grow up to know the good things, not just the bad."

"Your cause is just John, I do not doubt that. And I know that we will do our best to help you. But for now? Can we just do something simple... something fun?"

He reached for her, causing Rodney to groan in disgust again. "Fun? Oh yeah..."

"Not that sort of fun, John. And you call me insatiable? No, the children wish to visit the mainland, to spend time with the Athosian children, and I agreed that it would be a nice activity for them this afternoon. But if you are busy, I can find another pilot to take us across."

"How about I put together a picnic, and we can see if Ronon and Sam want to join us...?"

"That sounds most pleasant John. Then we can worry about your war."

"Put like a true woman... family first, war second... I like that about you Keli. Simple pleasures and perspective."

"Family John?"

"That too sweetheart... most definitely family."


	19. Chapter 19 A Weapon is Forged

CHAPTER 19 – A WEAPON IS FORGED

"You're talking about setting a trap... to lead them here?" Sam sat behind her desk, watching John as he paced around the small room, turning to look out the window into the control room beyond.

"It's the only way to allow us backup Sam. If the device doesn't work, we have a complete circle of mind energy to test out on them..."

"And if that doesn't work John?" She watched his nervous energy, coiling out of him now in tangible waves. He got like that whenever an idea took hold of him, and when it did, he just had to roll with it - anyway he could.

"Then that would make us screwed..." His hand was creating further mess in his already unruly hair as it raked through it incessantly and Sam fought to push down the smile that wanted to come through.

"You don't think that this battle would be better played out in space... far out in space? In case the crap hit the fan? The the rest of the city is protected if things go south."

His energy seemed to flag slightly and he simply slumped down into the chair opposite her before answering.

"I trust Keli and those kids. I think their circle is what kept the wraith away from their planet all those years. I wouldn't risk their lives or the lives of anyone in this city - you know that Sam. But we're got a shot to show them once and for all - we now hold the power to stop them."

"We hope we have the power to stop them. Don't make the same mistake that Rodney frequently does. Ego and overconfidence brought many a good man down. Heed those warnings..."

"Ah, spoken like a true woman... Sam!"

"So Sheppard? We gonna do this?" Ronon's deep voice sounded in the doorway and John watched amused as Sam's eyes took on an additional sparkle.

"Seems like you've already done it my friend... how come you never look at me like that Sam, when I come in here...? I get rolled eyes, grimaces and scowls... Ronon just pokes his head in the door and suddenly you're... glowing..."

Sam laughed and Ronon reached out a hand to hit John around the head. Not so lightly.

"Ouch! Damn it Ronon!"

"Glowing John? I'm a Colonel in the US Air Force. We don't ... glow..." But she was smiling as she said it. "And yes Ronon, in answer to your question, which really should have been addressed to me considering that I am the one who needs to give the final word of approval on this. We'll run it John's way - I do have some reservations and I've just been setting these out for him, but I can see the merit in having it on our home turf as well, as long as you run this past Keli and the children. They're not to be forced in any way to do this. I mean it John, no coersion, no intimidation - I don't want her to feel as though this is something she owes us."

"Damn it Sam, you really had to ask that? You think I would push her into something that this?" All jest aside now, his anger had sparked and he directed it at the woman who sat opposite him, heedless of that fact that a certain large Satedan stood lounging in the doorway, his own eyes narrowing at the way he was speaking to Sam.

"And don't you get in between us on this Ronon. I'm still head of military around here, and that means I outrank you. If I want to mouth off to a fellow Colonel - you don't get a say in it - regardless of the way you feel for her? Got that?"

John had stood up and was chest to chest with Ronon, who stared down at the smaller man. John did not back down. He had no fear of Ronon, and needed to make his own position clear, especially now given the fact that a personal relationship had begun to form between the two.

"You two take your pissing contest out of my office - now! I won't be a party to it. Go!" Sam looked angry and Ronon did not need to look at her twice to doubt the wisdom of starting something like this. He nodded his head once, then stepped out of the room, noting that John followed him. He chose, however - not to pursue their argument, simply gave John a hooded look and moved off. He knew that he had overreacted and knew that John had to maintain control of the teams with their respect. He'd not step on his commander's toes, and would attempt to push down those personal feelings he was developing for Sam. At least in a military situation such as this.

He didn't get very far. Rodney's excited voice in his ear comm had John tossing a look at Ronon to stop, and had Sam coming out of her office quickly, obviously having received the same communication.

John touched his ear comm to activate and answer. "What is it Rodney? Jello being served tonight in the mess?" Resorting yet again to jest, John leaned against the wall, watching as Ronon and Sam listened for his answer.

"You guys need to come down to the lab - now. You've got to see this!"

John pushed himself away from the wall, and followed Sam and Ronon, who had immediately moved off. "Crap. I hate it when he gets excited like that... usually means he's about the blow the lid on something big... literally. And we get to clean up the mess."

They had almost arrived at the lab and John was hit with an intense feeling that something tangible had changed. He had to stop a moment and bend at the waist to get his breath, and Ronon and Sam both paused beside him, eyebrows lifted in query. "You ok, Sheppard?" Ronon looked at his friend, then flicked a glance at Sam. John was pale, and looked as though something had sucker punched him in the gut.

"Damn. Don't you guys feel it?"

Rodney slid open the lab door and stood looking at John. "Sheppard? Don't just stand there.. get in here!"

John straightened and as he did so he caught sight of the three forming a circle in the lab. And in the middle stood the device. It was humming and there was a charge in the air, that by Keli's admission, shouldn't be felt if the circle had formed correctly.

"Rodney?" John's voice was strained, but he appeared to be the only one affected by it.

"It's working Sheppard. They've formed a complete circle and have linked their energy to the device. Twice as damn powerful. Amazing, huh?"

"Why am I feeling it? Keli?"

"Shhh... don't talk to her while she's part of the circle. You'll break the formation." Rodney's eyebrows drew together in admonishment and John after glancing at him, moved into the room, keeping a fist at his stomach, feeling the roiling of nausea that rolled through him.

Keli's eyes had been shut but they flew open as though they sensed him, and when he saw the flash of pain in her eyes, he knew also that she was sensing his pain. There was an unseen signal, and the circle shut down as though by one thought, and immediately she was out of her chair and at his side, leaning into his body as though to give him some strength.

"John... you feel what I feel, inside. When the circle is complete. Empathy." She murmured to him, rubbing her face against his shirt and feeling his arm slide around her to pull her tight against him. The pain and nausea had gone and he was able to breathe again.

"Damn. That is what it is like for you?" She could feel his deep breaths in her hair, and laid her good hand against his chest, opening it so that she could feel his heart beat as well.

"No John, we are able to harness and control it. For you? It was out of control and it would make you feel as though things were spiralling into nothing. I imagine you felt quite disorientated?"

"Yeah... that's putting a soft spin on it. The kids are ok?"

"The 'kids' – they are fine." and she turned to look at them, hearing their excited giggles as Rodney showed them a game he had set up on his computer for them. "We are ready John, to begin your experiment, to fight your battle. Just tell us when and we will continue to work and strengthen what we already have. Rodney's device works on the same wavelength as we do, and when we are all connected... oh John, it really is a wondrous feeling. Like being extremely powerful, no one can hurt you."

"I wish I was the one to make you feel like that..." He murmured the words quietly, still feeling her nestled against him, and felt the surge of pure need rise up through him, causing him to grip her tightly and sigh.

"I feel other things with you John, many things – but know that I always, always – feel safe! Have you a plan, Colonel John Sheppard?"

"Working on it sweetheart, need to think it through a little... but I have a gem of an idea building. Something that involves me and a jumper... and a bit lump of bait. But I don't want to think any more about that... for now, I just want to be with you, just you. Come with me?" He looked at her hopefully and she couldn't help but smile.

"To the next universe and back John... always." He saw somsething in her eyes then, heard Rodney clear his throat uncomfortably and heard chuckles from Sam and Ronon.

"Oh for God's sake – get a room you too. It's sickening..." Rodney grumbled, turning back to continue playing computer games with the twins and John raised his eyebrows at Keli.

"Well? Shall we?"

"Shall we what, John?"

"Get a room?"

"Oh, we already have a room..."

"Ok... then, shall we go?"

"Oh..." understanding dawned in her eyes and blushing a little she ducked her head as the others laughed and John chuckled delightedly at her lack of understand at the earth version of language. She chose not to answer but linking her good hand with one of his, she tugged him so that he had to follow, leaving the laboratory and leaving no doubt as to her own intentions.

The next morning he got up well before the sun rose. His night had been restless. Plans and ideas began to formulate in his head and after changing position yet another time in the bed, he chose to get up rather than disturb Keli's sleep. He pulled on trousers and stepped out onto the balcony, watching as one of the moons hung large and bright in the still night sky and leaned against the railing turning his face to the breeze.

He attempted to find clarity. He had thought that he would use himself as bait – take a jumper out into space, head towards the nearest hive ship and have Atlantis drop their shield and send out an emergency beacon. When he saw some action start to happen, he could lead them back to Atlantis and let Keli, the kids and Rodney's magic device loose on whomever decided to follow him. He huffed a breath, pondering the angles and wondering if Sam would let him go alone. He didn't want to risk anything going wrong before they got back to Atlantis, and didn't know if the wraith would fall for the emergency beacon starting to emit suddenly – but if they saw a lone jumper, then they would most definitely send out darts to investigate.

He turned and looked back into his room to see the woman who lay limbs akimbo, on the bed. The cover had pulled partly down and he saw the smooth expanse of her back, naked – and the long hair that flowed across her back and the pillow, covering her face that was turned sideways into the pillow. Like Lady Godiva, he thought – hell, he loved that hair – loved how it lay so intimately across her skin and loved the feel of it. In a society where women seemed to favour short hair, it was refreshing to find one that still grew it long. Hell, he thought – a woman should look like a woman!

He continued to play out his plan in his mind. Jumpers on standby in Atlantis in case his plan went south, the shield on standby – but they had already ascertained that the shield would not work if the mind link was operational and vice versa. One energy seemed to combat the other and the device that Rodney had designed was definitely the more viable option as opposed to a city shield – which required a ZPM, something in short supply around the galaxy. The device could easily be replicated and used on other worlds.

"John?" Her voice came softly from the bedroom and he saw that she sat up in the bed, looking out through the open door at him.

"Sorry sweetheart, I didn't mean to wake you. Was trying to work out a decent plan... mostly this happens best at night, when I can't sleep."

She pulled the blanket up and he could see that she shivered slightly.

"Cold?" He said the words softly and moved inside, closing the doors behind him. Standing beside the bed, he reached down and gently stroked her hair, saw her eyes shining with their usual intensity as she looked up at him.

"Come back to bed John... I need you to warm me up."

"Now, that is a request I will not deny you..." He slid under the covers after removing his pants, and felt her warm skin slide alongside his, her smooth small hands begin to touch him in places that made his breath hitch. He felt that he couldn't get enough of her, the way her face lit up when she spoke, the way her hands touched him – unashamedly as though she craved to feel him. And he couldn't get enough of being inside her, her heat and warmth as it enclosed him made him crave for her in a way that he never had before.

He slid a hand between her legs, felt the warmth and heat and heard her sigh as he gently rubbed and caused a pleasant friction that he saw build into passion from the light in her eyes and the change in her breathing.

"You are so damn beautiful... I could stay here, forever, watching you becoming aroused by my touch. And I could spend a lifetime becoming aroused by yours." His eyes clouded and he rolled suddenly, gently nudging her knees wider and with a hard thrust he filled her, so that her breath hitched sharply and she cried out his name and gripped his shoulder, the other casted arm, lying still beside her.

_Yes, _he thought_ a lifetime... I wonder if she will give me that should I ask..._ He came in a river of emotion and knew that she was right there with him on the journey, and pushed all thoughts from his head apart from this. Tomorrow, he would lead the way into battle, tonight, he would love his woman.


	20. Chapter 20 Into Battle

CHAPTER 20 – INTO BATTLE

Morning came and with it clarity. Of many things. He would spend his life with this woman, and the two children whom had become a part of their lives. And today? He would go to battle to protect his family and this galaxy from annihilation. He would show the wraith that they now had a weapon and could no longer dominate the humans of this galaxy. The war had begun, and today? It would also end.

Although he had gotten little sleep, he felt more rested than he had in a long time. A plan of action and a plan for life. They were emeshed, inseparable and together? They would work. He laid out his plan to the military and security teams in the conference room. Keli and the children sat in on the meeting, as did Rodney and some of the other scientists – those whose services would be required in this mission. He sensed the excitement in the room, saw the eagerness on the faces of all these people who had spent so much time in this city trying to find a way to rid the galaxy of the wraith. He locked eyes with Teyla and Ronon – knew what this would mean to them in particular. Ronon's home planet of Sateda had been destroyed by the wraith and he had dedicated his life to their extinction. Teyla also, had spent a life time being persecuted by this enemy and knew that this team of earth people were the ones who would eventually bring peace to this galaxy.

All eyes turned to Keli and the twins. They sat on each side of her, Casie curled against her side and Mikel, trying to appear mature and strong. John had to fight down a smile. It appeared that he sat in such a way as to offer protection to Keli, and knew that the kid would have her back. Eight years old or otherwise. And now, his boy. Their connection had been formed and he would show him how to become a man – but first? He would teach him how to be a boy.

"John. It's solid. We need twenty four hours to put the security detail into place in Atlantis, and I need to know that you'll not be a damn hero out there – when you put your butt on the line as bait. I want you back, and in one piece. Is that clear?"

Sam glared at him, those blue eyes showing quite clearly that he had better listen to her on this one and that she would expect no less than what she had demanded. He nodded. He had a damn good reason for coming back in one piece. Hell, he had three good reasons now, and he'd not let them down.

"Ok then. Rodney? Where's the nearest wraith activity? Can you pull it up on the screen there – give us a decent visual. I want no surprises on this one. John? You go in under stealth mode until the moment that you are ready to let them see you and lead them back here. I want the emergency signal to activate at the same time that John deactivates his stealth mode. I want them to follow him, but I don't want their full focus on him. You can shield until you get to a certain point, then I need you to deactivate the shield as well... we don't want to risk interference with the mind link."

She paused in her instructions, wanting all the personnel concerned to be perfectly clear in their tasks. There were to be no surprises.

The twenty four hours passed quickly. John spent the time with the security and military teams, planning strategy around the city and ensuring that full weaponry was set up into place. He left Rodney to stay with Keli and the twins, to ensure that they were kept calm and centred and most of all, rested. They would not be able to go into this tired and Rodney sent the kids back to their room in the afternoon for naps, much to their disgust. Keli went with them. Their room was right beside John and hers and he had arranged a DVD player and other fun electronic equipment set up in there and there were plenty of fun DVD's that had been brought back from earth to entertain them. Keli put a movie into the player and stretched out the the bed alongside them, intending to watch a movie herself, but it was Keli who fell asleep and with amused glances, the children continued watching the movie while she caught up on all the sleep that she had lost over the past few weeks.

When John popped his head in the door just before dinner, he almost laughed. Mikel had put Star Wars on and Casie was quietly reading and Keli? Sound alseep on the bed and he could not resist the urge to sit down beside her and stroke her cheek.

"She seems tired John Sheppard... we thought it best that she sleep."

"Hey, Mikel? Why do you call me John Sheppard?" He stood up and went to sit beside the boy, running a hand over his head.

"That is your name?"

"Yeah, but you can just call me... John. And perhaps, one day... you'll call me something else."

He looked into the blue eyes that saw altogether too much, and saw the knowledge in the boy's eyes. He knew what John meant, and accepted it – saw the small smile that crept over his face, and felt the small hand that slipped into his own.

"Perhaps, John... I will. Perhaps we both will. Tomorrow? You will be careful? If anything were to happen to you, we would be upset, all of us."

John still marvelled at the way these children spoke. Certainly nothing like normal eight year olds, but considering what they had been through, he could only imagine that their lives had not mirrored normal childrens since they were taken from their birth planet. And even then? He assumed that their training pushed them into a level of maturity that they had no choice but to catch up to.

"I will be careful Mikel. You guys are my family now. You and Casie, and Keli... I've got a lot more to live for now."

Mikel looked at Keli, alseep on the bed, then back at the Colonel. "We all have more to live for."

The next morning it was a somber group who met in the jumper bay. While all military and security personnel were in place, Ronon and Teyla along with Sam, Keli and the children, had come to the jumper bay to see John off. He wore full combat gear and Keli stood back a little watching the change in his face as he readied himself for this mission. Her man was gone, replaced by the soldier who stared dispassionately around at the people assembled, already in the air and planning his next move. He would have preferred to leave quietly, simply fly the jumper down to the gate, wave a casual salute at those in the control room, then through the gate. In and out. Get on the road so to speak.

Instead? He stood near the jumper, readying his weapons and tried not to see the emotions that hovered across the faces of the people who had come to see him off. Ronon and Teyla, looking for all the world as though they wanted to jump on board and go with him and he knew that it was killing them to stay behind. He'd not risk any more lives other than his own, and while they understood that, they did not agree with it, and John could see now, the protest forming in Ronon's eyes and he attempted to silence it immediately with a look of his own.

Then he looked at Keli, one hand holding Casie's and Mikel standing protectively beside her. Rodney waited anxiously for them down in the laboratory, John knew that – and he let his eyes linger on this woman he had fallen in love with and saw the message she broadcast in those clear blue eyes. To come back to her and the future that they would have together. He saw her hand go to her stomach, and saw the small smile and his eyebrows shot upward and a surge of hope shot through him. Perhaps a little magic had woven it's fingers over them, and he saw the serene smiles on the faces of the children as they leaned close to their new guardian, and knew that they sensed already, what she had knowingly just told him.

He walked up to her then and pressed his own hand where hers had been and kissed her hard, then dropped down to one knee and hugged Mikel and Casie. No words, just action, then he was in the jumper – no casual salute, no jesting, no words. And Keli sighed, touched her stomach again, then with her charges beside her she headed for the laboratory. Their work would just be beginning.

They formed the circle. It needed to be running for some time to make shielding complete, as least that was what Rodney had surmised and they did not see any need to try and convince him otherwise. He was the expert, they knew what to do, but not really what it did. The science was his department, making it happen was theirs.

The circle complete, they ensured that the power ran smoothly and uninterupted and felt immediately, the moment that Rodney added the power of the device to their own energy. Keli felt on fire, as though hot coals tingled experimentally along the tips of her fingers and danced in a soft tango over her skin. Hot, but not burning. Alive in a way that very few people in the universe got to experience. Every nerve ending knew immediately what the other was doing, and firmly and carefully meshed with the energies of the children, so strong and powerful for ones so young.

Rodney simply stood back and watched the masters work, the puppeteer, no longer in control of his puppets. They walked their own line now, pulled their own strings and he could only jump on the back and tell people he was simply along for the ride. As long as the circle stayed whole and complete, there was nothing he could do.

He heard the crackle of the radio from time to time. Knew that Sam remained in the control room, in constant contact with John in the jumper and knew that the military and security had taken up secure defensive positions around the city. The shield was down, in accordance with Rodney's instructions. If not for the mind energy and the completed circle, the city would be unprotected, a state it had not been in for a long time.

It took John two hours to get into position in deep space, following the path that Rodney have given him, inputting it into the interface for the jumper so that he had a clear guide to follow. He simply sat back and was along for the ride at that point. He shielded and cloaked the jumper. Didn't want anyone else getting a good look at him until he was ready for them to do so, and the solitude and peace of space calmed him as it always did. Letting his thoughts roll over him as a wave onto a shore, then pull back with the tide to head back to sea. Relentless, calming and he was able to think about the future that they would have together – if he managed to pull this off, and if their newly elected guardians showed the wraith that there would be no more galaxy domination.

His sensors beeped and he knew that he was nearing the hive ship. He got visual on it and as always, it took his breath away. Hanging still and eerily calm in the dark still of space, almost peaceful if he had not known the deady cargo that it held.

He contacted Atlantis and told them to lower the shield and begin broadcasting the emergency beacon and he just let the ship coast for a moment in space, pondering this point in time, where lives would and could change - in the blink of an eye. Uncloaking his jumper, he took a deep breath.

"Copy that John. Good luck, and we'll see you on the flip side." Sam's quirk of humour brought a smile of his own to his face, and flicking a casual salute at the hive ship, he waited to see what would happen.

He didn't have long to wait. The signal would have been picked up immediately and at the same time they registered the fact that there was a lone jumper staring them boldly in the eye. He watched, slightly bemused, as the dart bay doors opened, spewing out their deadly cargo.

_Game on,_ he thought, and shielding the jumper, he turned for home, knowing that they would be on his tail.

A game of cat and mouse ensued and he led them through space, darts penetrating the space around him, and weapons firing ineffectually. He knew when they pulled back to regroup and continued his journey. They would have worked out by now that he was no doubt laying some sort of trap. Intelligence was not lacking in the wraith, far from it and he knew that they would be using their extensive mind network to bring in additional forces, thinking that perhaps Atlantis was at last up for grabs.

_Bring it on_, he thought and that thought was immediately followed by Keli and the kids. _ Hope you're ready guys... the big guns are coming to town._

As he got closer to Atlantis, he lowered his shields and knew that he was at his most vulnerable, knowing also that the city was too. No longer cloaked or shielded, it relied on the as yet untested mind energy created by three individuals and a device that was only now being tested. John sent a quick silent message to the inhabitants of the city down below him, and hoped that the hatches were now firmly battened down.

He felt the jumper list and shake, and knew that he had taken a small hit, just the tail part of the jumper, but enough to jar his controls and send him slightly out of control. _ Damn_, he thought. _Lost my concentration there, let the jumper work for you, not against you. Concentrate, Sheppard. _ He told himself off, knowing that the controls of the jumper relied on his mind interface to work, knowing that his lapse in concentration had allowed a wraith dart to fire a hit. He saw that the darts had converged on Atlantis, now far below them, but getting steadily closer. They began their bombing runs, making long slow sweeping passes low over the ocean, then pulling up at the last minute to fly in through the tall buildings. They did not fire immediately, and John watching from where he fought to regain control of his jumper, knew that they were scanning the city, taking stock of how many life signs they could read and what sort of weapons the city was preparing to fire at them. With the shield down and the emergency beacon on, the wraith would assume that Atlantis was at their mercy, without power and subsequently without weapons. Either that or they would think that a trap was being set. Which ever direction their thoughts took, they would be vigilant, John was sure of that.

He managed to regain control of his jumper and saw that the hive ship much further out was sending more reinforcements down and it was then that the darts decided to open fire.

Back in Atlantis deep in the laboratory, the circle - fully formed, began to hum. Rodney stood back - keeping an eye on the device to make sure that it did not overload, and keeping a firm watch on the humans that had been thrown into the mix, to make sure that they did not overload either. He had grown somewhat attached to the twins - as much as Rodney would ever admit to child attachment, and he was worried that this would be too much for them. He knew that the hive ship had arrived - knew that it was now in orbit in the space above Atlantis and that it had released it's cargo. Up to a thirty darts would be circling the skies above Atlantis, flying in low over the city and looking for the weakness and scanning the city to find out why they were not attacking. They would not sense the mind energy - he was almost, but not completely sure of this fact, but his research had led him to believe that it did not operate on a frequency that the wraith could tap into. Under the radar, so to speak.

Keli sensed nothing but the energy that flowed between her, Mikel and Casie, felt the connection strengthening by the minute. It gave her hope, and a small part of her mind tried to focus on what John was doing and whether he was safe, but the circle took over and she had to reluctantly push him aside and concentrate on sending more energy and maintaining the link. She knew that it was working, knew without hearing Rodney's excited chatter into the radio. Could feel the expansion of the energy, forming a protective barrier around the city and above the skies of Atlantis. Was not aware when the energy became complete and the darts began falling out of the sky in balls of flames. She did not hear Rodney's yell of delight when this information was relayed from the control room, and did not hear the celebratory cheers that echoed throughout the city, nor did she see the man whom she had fallen in love with, close his eyes briefly in relief as from his place above the city where he was still attempting to evade darts that were firing upon his jumper.

She did not sense, when momentarily distracted, his jumper took another hit and this time spiralled out of control and went down, hitting the ocean with a sickening crash. Sam in the control room, saw him take the dive and immediately radioed for two jumpers to go out and assist in getting him out, including a dive team. Ronon, upon hearing that John had gone down was in the jumper bay immediately and the first jumper left within minutes of him going down.

The darts continued their onslaught and continued to fall and eventually the control room noticed that the hive ship began to leave the orbit above the city and the remaining darts turned tail and left. Subdued cheering went up in the control room. Sam had not heard back from the jumpers that had gone looking for John and she nervously awaited news before going down to the laboratory to tell Keli their mind energy had succeeded in creating a more than feasible working shield and weapon against wraith darts. Deciding she needed to go down and tell her, she waited until all the darts had left the Lantien sky and the hive ship was well out of range and ordered the shield to be reactivated, effectively blocking out the mind energy and shutting it down.

Keli came out of her trance like state with a start, and knew immediately that something was wrong. That something had happened to John.

"Rodney? John... what has happened to him?"

"Hush, Keli. He'll be fine. That man has more than nine lives, and I'm pretty sure he hasn't used up his quota yet."

"Rodney? Please..."

Sam walked in and gave Rodney a withering stare after having heard the tail end of the conversation.

"His jumper took a hit Keli and went down into the ocean. I've sent help down... Ronon's gone too and I have every confidence they'll find him and bring him out. You guys did an amazing job, you did it – the three of you – Rodney too, with your device." She attempted to deflect Keli's worry from John briefly, but it didn't work. She saw the woman jump to her feet and rush to her side, pulling on her arm with her own uncasted one.

"Please Sam, you must let me go to him..."

"I can't do that Keli. You can come with me to the control room, but I can't let you go there. There's nothing you can do. The one's who have gone after him, they're trained to do this, and they'll find him and pull him out. Trust them..."

"He promised to come back alive..." Mikel looked up at Keli with tears in his eyes, and Keli thought that at last he was beginning to show the behaviour of a child. Allowed to cry, when before he would not have been allowed to have that emotion.

"He did, Mikel. And I'm sure he will..." She pushed aside her own fears to comfort the children. She needed to be strong for them and not fall apart, so taking their hands, ignoring the pain in her broken one, she followed Sam to the control room to wait for her man to return.

It was a tense two hours before a cheer went up from one of the technicians in the control room. He had received communication from one of the jumpers that Colonel Sheppard had been located and brought aboard one of the rescue jumpers. Keli heard his cheer and closed her eyes briefly, swaying just a little in relief. The children clung to her and it was Casie who sensed something more inside her.

"Keli... you are weakened. You need to rest."

"We all need to rest Casie, but I cannot until John is safe in Atlantis. Then we will all rest."

They held her up it seemed, gave her both emotional and physical support and from time to time, Sam cast concerned glances at her and when at last the jumper arrived back, Keli and the children climbed down the control room stairs and made their way to the jumper bay, needing to be on hand when he was brought out.

He was conscious and his eyes sought hers immediately. She went to him and held his hand tightly, allowing Carson to fuss around him and Ronon to transfer him to a gurney. He had some injuries, none too debilitating, but enough to keep him out of action for a couple of days, and keep Carson on his back about rest and recuperation. And she firmly intended to make sure that all of Carson's orders were strictly followed.

"We did it Kel... you did it. You guys were amazing. If you could have seen what I saw... the darts were simply exploding when they came in contact with your circle. I have never felt so proud of someone as I did of you three when I witnessed that."

She saw that his consciousness was fading and knew that he had pushed himself to remain conscious until he could see her, and until she could see for herself that he was still alive. And had come back to her.

She dropped a kiss on his forehead, and glanced up to see Carson waiting to take him to the infirmary. Carson was looking assessingly at her face and spoke quietly to her.

"Seems to me that you are in need of a check up yourself lass..." He glanced down inperceptibly at her stomach and smiled slightly. Of course he was a doctor, and sometimes these things... well, you wore them like a badge of honour. Her hand reached down to touch her stomach lightly and she saw John's eyes sleepily reach out to cover it.

The circle was most definitely complete.

**Author's Note**

******Just so you know... I'm finishing this one here for now - I might pick it up again in the future and roll a bit further with it. I am going on holiday until mid July, so no more stories until I get back. I do have a new one in the works - and will get that up and running when I get back. I'll give you guys a break from my proverbial ramblings and come back refreshed and full of new ideas - hopefully!**

**See ya on the flipside!**

**Tracey (danners3)**


End file.
